Alex Montgomery
by Peace and Luv
Summary: Secrets. Sure, they're great. But what happens when they get out? Well you know what they say- only two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.
1. Prolouge

**Before**

I cringed as Ali pulled me through the trees and under thick branches. "Where are we going?" I hissed at her, causing her to huff. "We;ve been over this, Alex. I have to meet someone, and quickly. This could be my last chance..." Ali rubbed her belly. I frowned. "Meet who?" I demanded.

"Trust me, you know him...like he's your own father." She winked at me as her speed increased. I frowned but didn't say anything else. We were at her house now. "You stay here," She pushed me inside. "I'll be right back. Go in my room."

And then she was gone. I huffed and walked upstairs, only to be greeted by Melissa, Ian, Wilden, Jenna, and Garrett walking out. "What are you guys doing?" I asked. I knew for a fact that Ali hated people in her room- people she didn't trust. I also knew that she didn't trust any one of these people.

"Nothing," Melissa glared. "Shouldn't you be with Spencer at her party?" She spat out, and I frowned. "Well, yes actually. But Ali had something to do- she told me to wiat in her room. I wasn't aware you guys were supposed to be in here as well." I glared at them.

Jenna sent a dirty look in my general direction before Garrett led her downstairs. Melissa and Ian soon followed, but not before Melissa said: "Spend time with her while you can, Alex. It won't be long now." And with that smirk, she and Ian disapeared.

Rolling my eyes, I walk into her room, but stop when I saw her diary on her bed, wide open.

I've never been much of a snoop- okay, maybe I was a huge snoop. My mom always told me: "Curiosity killed the cat." And I would respond, "Good thing i'm not a feline."

Anyway, it was open already, so somebody (Ali) obviously wanted people to see it. With a quick look over my shoulder, I picked it up carefully.

_Dear Diary,_

_I took the test today. I've been worried about it all week, dreading the result. I haven't taken it yet, but something tells me I won't get the chance to. There's been this feeling ever since last Halloween- like something bad is going to happen to me. I suppose I deserve it- i've done alot of bad things to people. But i've always had a reason- the motives always made since. Hopefully, they see it that way. It won't be long now- the threats are getting more dangerous._

A blood curdling scream brought me back. But by the time I got downstairs, any trace of the saound was gone. I looked everywhere for Ali, but I couldn't find her. I saw Jenna and Garrett rushing away, but no signs of Allison.

Allison DiLaurenis was gone.


	2. Crazy Kids

**Pilot**

_Hello, wherever you are  
_

_Are you dancing on the dance floor, drinking by the bar?  
_

_Tonight we do it big, and shinin' like stars_

_And we don't give a fuck, 'cause that's just who we are_

_-_**Ke$ha, Crazy Kids**

* * *

Home. God, I missed this place. My family and I- Aria, Mike, Mom, and Dad- had just moved back to Rosewood. It was like we had never left- kids were still playing in their yards, dads on the grill, and moms putting groceries back in the house.

I turned to look at my reflection in my floor length mirror. Long brown hair, hazel colored eyes, 5'2 frame. My lips were full and pouty, and my head was a bit round. I was tan, even thought there had hardly been any sun. The trip to Iceland had been…interesting to say the least. Things with my dad were _very_ awkward nowadays, and Mom still doesn't know.

"Feels good to be back, doesn't it?" My mom appears in my doorway. Speak of the devil...

"It's like starting over again." I say, which was true. I'd made friends back in Iceland, and I didn't really want to move back at first. I had a painful past here in Rosewood, a past that I kept well hidden for so long, and I was afraid coming back would only bring them back up again.

"You still have friends here."

Yeah right. Spencer was probably a know-it-all, Emily being overly helpful, and Hannah eating a Jumbo pack of chips watching _16 Candles_. So no, I didn't have friends here.

"We've been gone for 2 years, which is a long time." I point out. What if they had forgotten me, or worse, hated me for leaving while they had to stay and deal with all the baggage?

"You six were inseparable. Those feelings just don't go away." Mom says, and I shudder.

**You six were inseparable. **

It made me think of Allison. "I still think about her." I say sadly. She was my best friend, before anyone else.

"Call your friends. I'm sure they miss her too, especially this weekend." My mother replies. It had been a few years since Ali had disappeared, and being back _here_ would only make things worse.

I sigh, but nod. Just then Mike barges in. "I need a ride to lacrosse." He said. Mom gives me a look.

"Why do I have to do it?" I whined.

My brother was a douche. As much as I hated to say it, he was. "Because, you're his favorite sister.''

_A load of bullshit,_ I thought. Mike didn't have a favorite sibling. I gave her a puppy dog look that I knew she couldn't resist.

_10, 9, 8, 7_

"It's not going to work Alex."

_6, 5, 4, 3_

"Stop that," She warned me.

_2, 1_

I quivered my lip for the full effect. "Fine! Ask Aria or your dad, alright? But if they say no…Alex, it's your job."

What a-

Mom gave me a look, as if she knew what I was going to say. Groaning, I trudged downstairs with Mike and Mom in tow.

"Dad, Aria! Can one of you take him," I jerked my thumb towards Mike, "to lacrosse try-outs?"

"I'll take him. I want to swing by campus and reconnect with some of the faculty." Dad says.

_Connect with old faculty…wait, Meredith!_

Aria and I must have realized it at the same time because we both exchanged glances. Twin power.

Word.

"We'll take him!" Aria says hurriedly, and I nod in agreement. Then I realize what I just nodded to.

"Yeah, she'll take him!" I smiled. My sister gave me "The Look'', something that usually means to shut up and go along with whatever I say.

I don't usually do it.

"I don't mind, girls." Dad tries again, and Aria rolls her eyes.

"She doesn't mind either." I deadpan. If this was going to be an argument, he would get beat.

Because of the twin power that's in this room right now.

"Alright." He gives up, and I sigh in relief.

"Bye, Ella." Aria gives her a swift kiss on the cheek. I never understood why she called her that. I mean, wasn't she her daughter?

There are so many questions, yet so little answers.

I sigh as I watch them walk out and turn to go back upstairs when Mom gave me "The Look".

"Mom! You said that if Aria or Dad agreed to take her, I wouldn't have to go! You promised."

"I don't care, go with your siblings."

"Peasant." I grumbled as I walked out.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Mother Dear!"

When I walked outside, I saw Mike in the front seat.

Uh-uh.

This wasn't about to go down.

"Uh-uh pretty boy, hit the back." I say to Mike, who rolls his eyes. "Nope." He says, popping the 'p'.

"Mike." I warned.

"Alex."

We have a stare off, and then we both hold out our fists.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoo!"

I pulled a scissors, while he got a rock. "Dammit, Mike!"

"Ha-ha, you lose. Again, for the millionth time."

This was true. Whenever we both wanted something, we played Rock, paper, scissors for it. He always won. It was like the R,P,S people hated me or something.

"I'll get you for this…"

"Yeah, the day you die."

"Or the day _you_ die…"

When we get to the school, Aria asks, "What time are we picking you up?"

"Six." I watch him jog over to where a bunch of other fit guys were and called after him,

"Dick-head!"

And you know how I got rewarded? With a middle finger.

* * *

We drive around town a while, getting to know the town a bit. We turn into a very familiar neighborhood. Stopping in front of a house, I was brought into a memory…

_Allison pulls me into a yard and uses her key to open the door. "Wow…nice place." I say, and she smiled at me. "Thanks. I helped my mom decorate it." She bragged, and I playfully roll my eyes. She was such a bragger. _

_"Where's that delicious brother of yours?" I ask, plopping on a plush couch. It was so comfortable._

_"Jason? You have a crush on my loser of a family member? Eww!" Allison squeaks, and I giggle. _

_"Oh, come on. He may be a stoner, but he's a hot one."_

_She rolls her eyes and pulls her hair into a ponytail. I notice she's wearing a bracelet that I never noticed. "Hey…what's that?"_

_"Oh, this? I was on this boat and some guy I met gave it to me as a farewell present." I sensed a strong resentment towards this 'guy', but I didn't say anything._

"ALEX!" Aria's concerned voice brought me back. "Are you OK?"

I stare at the house some more before nodding. "Yeah, I'm okay." I smile at her, but she doesn't look fully convinced. I pull out my phone and dial Emily, putting it on speaker phone. I wanted- no, _needed _to talk to her, to someone.

It rang a few times before I heard her voice.

"It's Emily and you know what this means." I smile at her voice. "Leave a message."

Leave a message? I hang up without trying again.

"SHE WEARS SHORT SKIRTS, I WEAR T-SHIRTS! SHE'S CHEER CAPTAIN AND I'M ON THE BLEACHERS!" I sang/screamed with Aria as we drove down the road.

We stop at the red light, and I groaned. I remembered this light as the one that took _forever_ to change! I sighed, mentally preparing myself for this torture.

Aria, however, was looking at something in my window. I looked, but then frowned as old memories resurfaced.

_We were all in Spencer's barn, dancing and giggling to Justin Timberlake's "Sexy Back". Lightning strikes when suddenly the power goes out. We all fumble a little, but Hannah lights a candle and Spencer cuts on a flashlight. A knock on the wall makes me shrink into Aria's side._

_"Someone's out there."_

_No shit, Sherlock. The knocking gets louder and Spencer reaches for the phone. "The lines dead!"_

_Of course it is. The door handle turns and Hannah says, "Jesus."_

_It opens, but no-one's there. Weird. Huddling together, we peer outside, but all we hear is the wind. Someone lunges out of the bushes. "AHHH!" We all scream, and someone laughs. "Gotcha." Allison says. _

_What a- _

_"Were you trying to give me a heart-attack?" I yell, causing her to laugh more. Walking in, she tosses her sleeping bag on the floor._

_1 HOUR LATER…_

_"Don't be afraid. It'll be fun." Fun? Trying to hypnotize us is what she thought was fun? Seriously, I think this chick is deranged. "I don't know…" I trail off. "Oh come on! It's the secrets we share that bond us together."_

_5 MINUTES LATER…_

_As I begin to count backwards, your eyelids will begin to feel very heavy. You're completely relaxed. Forty. Forty-one. Forty-two…"_

_**3 MINUTES LATER…**_

_"So, so tired. Six, five, four…"_

**_ARIA_**

_My eyes flutter open. It's silent and eerie, kind of like a scary movie. I look around and notice Allison's sleeping bag was empty. So was Alex's. The door to the barn is wide open. I walk over and peer out. "Ali? Alex?" I call, feeling slightly uneasy. "They're gone." Spencer says._

**ALEX**

It was a missing person's sign. On the left was a picture of Allison at 13, on the right of what she would look like now. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. A group of kid's past by it, blocking my view. They were walking into Snookers, a bar. The clock read 4:45. I glance at Aria. "You up for some day drinking?" By the look on her face I could tell that she was.

It was exactly what a collage bar should be. Casual, warm, and welcoming. We both sit at the bar beside each other. "What can I get you?"

"Suicide. You know, where you put a little of everything into a cup?" He nods. "And you?" He asks my sister. "A beer. Whatever is on tap?" The bartender gets us our drinks. I watch in amusement as Aria spits hers back into the cup.

"That good?" I ask, and she glares at me. "Are you okay down there?" I look over to see a hot guy staring at Aria in concern. "I've been in Europe for 2 years. The beer's better there." She shrugs. This was true. I take a sip of my drink. "Where in Europe?"

"Finland."

They talk for a while and I watch in boredom. A few minutes later they disappear.

With a sigh, I turn to the bartender. "So…how long have you been working here?" I asked him, and he shrugged. "About a year."

"Does it suck?" I asked him. "You know, serving people and not having to serve yourself?" He shrugs.

"Not really. I mean, the beer's free."

We talk for a while. I learn that his name is Dave, and that he'd been working there to get more money. I tell him about me just moving back, and about my Dad and how much I think Mike is a douche.

"Hold on a second, I have to take a wiz."

I walk into the bathroom but my eyes bulge out at the scene in front of me.

Ezra…and Aria…making out?

"Excuse me!" I say, and they break apart, Aria blushing beet red.

"So I'm just gonna go…talk to Dave."

I walk out, forgetting that I had to pee. "I thought you had to-"

"I don't want to talk about it." I shuddered.

**THE NEXT MORNING**

Dad was driving us to school; the only noise being made was the radio. I teased Aria about "Bathroom Guy" all night long, but I didn't do it now because of Dad. He stops in front of Rosewood High and Mike shoots out of the car. "Later." Later? Was that all he had to say?

I smile slightly and began to open the car door before Dad stops me. "Hang on a sec."

Great. I knew what he wanted to talk about- and I didn't want to have this conversation again. "It's the first day. We don't want to be late." Aria reminded him.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He defended himself.

"With what?" I asked.

"I can't imagine how it's been; keeping quiet. I love you both."

"We know that."

"And I love your mother." I send him a disbelieving glare.

"If you loved her, you wouldn't have cheated on her, with a _student_!" I get out of the car, slamming the door behind me.

_Allison, Aria and I were walking down the street, eating fro- yo. "Allison!" I hear someone call. I turn to see Mona Vanderwall, trying to catch up to us. "Gross," Ali says, and I frown at her._

_"No need to be rude. She looks up to you- you should be honored." I scolded, waving my finger in her face. _

_As usual, she ignored me. I waved to Mona, who smiled. I smiled back before Aria said, "Switch."_

_So we switched cups, laughing and giggling. But we soon came to a stop. "Hey, isn't that your dad's car?" Ali asked in confusion. _

_I barley heard her. Because all I saw was Meredith, one of my dad's college students, kissing my dad. Oh. My. God._

"Aria? Alex?" I was snapped out of the memory by Emily, who looked good. "When did you get back?"

"Ah…yesterday." We share a hug.

"I almost didn't recognize you. The last time I saw you guys you had a pink and purple stripe in your hair!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, well when your parents teach individuality and you don't know who you are…" Aria trailed off.

I gave her a look. "No, I was just bored."

"You two wore it well."

I smiled at her. "Why thank you." I bumped my hip with hers.

**1ST PERIOD- ENGLISH**

So I got lost looking for my locker. Bad idea. I sighed and began to trudge to my English class.

A few minutes later, I walk in, and everyone looks at me. "Sorry. I got lost…"

I trailed off, because the teacher was- "Bathroom Guy?" I ask in disbelief, causing everyone to stare at me weirdly. "Holy crap." He says.

Holy crap, indeed.

**A/N: OK. I went back and decided to edit all of my chapters...so yeah. Sorry if it seems different.  
**

**P.S- Also keep in mind, that the songs at the beginning of the chapter have NOTHING to do with the chapter itself...I just put my music on shuffle and this was the first to pop up.**


	3. Lego House

**First off I would just like to say that I put Aria and Jason up there because it's Aria's twin, Jason's love interest. I'm sorry to anyone who thought otherwise.**

**I do not own PLL. Only Alex is mine, though I wish Jason was too ;)**

_I'm outta touch, I'm outta love _

_I'll pick you up when you're getting down_

_And out of all these things I've done_

_I think I love you better now_

_I'm out outta sight, I'm outta mind_

_I'll do it all for you in time_

_But out of all these things I've done_

_I will love you better now_

**-Ed Sheeran, Lego House**

* * *

The next morning Aria burst into my room. "Wake up!"

"Go away." I mumbled into my pillows. I just wanted to sleep…but of course my twin has to get in the way of that. "Come on! It's time for school, and it's your turn to drive."

Sighing, I glance over at my alarm clock. "You're waking me up a 6:30! What the hell is wrong with you?" I growl quite angrily.

"We have to go and talk to Ezra. Remember that text I showed you yesterday?" I nod. Who could forget?

**Aria, maybe he fools around with a lot of his students. A lot of teachers do. Just ask your dad. –A**

At first I'd wondered if it was Allison that sent the text, but quickly ruled it out. Allison has been missing for months. Why do this now?

"Alright, alright. I'm coming. But you owe me."

Stepping over to my closet, I pull on black skinny jeans, a white tank top with a plaid black, red, and white shirt over it, and red and white converse. "Alex." I whirl around to see my dad standing there, arms crossed over his chest.

"Dad! What are you doing in here?" I ask, a bit surprised. I hadn't been exactly friendly about the whole Meredith thing, but he was set on making things better. I thought it was bullshit.

"You're up early."

"Oh yeah, Aria wanted to head over to school at 6:30 in the morning so…" I trail off, thinking he got the point. "That's great. How is school going?"

"It's the second day, Dad."

"I know. I mean with your friends. Hannah, Emily, Spencer…"

I sighed. Mom gave me the same crappy speech about reuniting with friends yesterday, and I did not feel like hearing it again. "Alex? You ready to go?" Aria threw me a life preserver, and I smiled gratefully at her.

"Well, see you later dad!" I yell as I race downstairs.

* * *

At school, it was pretty empty. The only thing you saw was teachers walking around, coffee cups in hand. A few did stare as we walked past, but other than that, we weren't noticed much. We walk into Ezra's classroom and shut the door behind us. He looks up from his paper, staring at us for a long moment.

"You told me you went to Hollis." He stated, and I shrugged. "No. I said I was thinking about majoring in English, which is true." Aria corrected him. All was silent for a moment. "We can still be together. Nobody has to know." She leans over his desk.

OK, things were getting a little weird now. Of course, I could just walk out of the classroom, but I didn't have anywhere to go. The only thing open right now is Starbucks, and I already had a cup on the way here. Damn it all.

"Look Aria, I think you're an amazing girl," Letting her down softly I see. "When I met you I was like- Who is this girl? She's amazing."

"I feel the same way about you." Aria quickly says, and he walks over to the door. He was kicking us out? "But we just can't. It's just not right."

I shake my head. "A lot of things aren't right. Slavery, Hitler, my life…" I trail off, and he just walks out. "Rude much!" I call after him. Aria stands there for a moment, then grabs my arm and pulls me out of the door after him.

"Ezra!" He turns. "Did you tell anyone about us?"

"No." He keeps going. What an ass-wipe. "Well, somebody knows." She murmurs, looking at the text once again.

What the hell was going on here?

* * *

Later on, I bumped into Spencer coming out of the library. "Spencer?" I asked in shock. I hadn't had a chance to talk to her yesterday. We got along the best among the other girls- apart from Ali, of course. However, I think that if I hadn't been friends with Allison, we still would be BFFs.

"Hi…Alex. How've you been?"

"Good. You know, I was just reading this book the other day, and I was like '_Hey, this reminds me of Spencer'_. You know, because you like to read?" I chuckled awkwardly.

Spencer laughed too, and I smiled at her.

"It's like you never changed."

"Should I be offended…?"

"Yes, Alex. That would be considered offensive in some situations." She said. "We still have a few minutes until school starts. Would you like to catch up?"

I beamed at her. "Yeah, I would like that." I nodded.

**A/N: I edited this chapter. I didn't really do that much, just fixed spelling mistakes and added the part with Spencer. So...yeah.**


	4. Turn Your Face

**I do not own PLL.**

_In my memory, I was hurting before we met, oh  
_

_In my memory, there's still burnin' _

_Fingerprints you left_

_And I always meant to say to you I can't_

_So just turn your face, until I can't see you anymore_

_Turn your face, until I can't feel you anymore_

_Walk away until you're not standing at my door_

_Turn your face, walk away, and stay_

_Turn your face_

**-Little Mix, Turn Your Face  
**

* * *

Later that night, Aria and I sat in her room, thinking of who could've sent that text. And so far we have nothing. "Maybe it was a prank? Noel and his douches were probably just messing with us. No biggie." I say, trying to see the light.

"Why would he do that? And how did he know?" My sister groaned in frustration.

I was just about to reply when Dad called us. "Aria! Alex! Emily's here!"

We exchange a glance. Emily? We clumber down and sure enough she was there, getting pestered by my dad.

"Now it's starting to feel like old times." He says, and I scoff. "We left old times, remember?" Aria states, and Dad says,

"Yes Aria. I remember."

He'd better. We step on the porch, and I close the door behind us. "I'm sorry for just stopping by." She apologizes, and I shake my head in disapproval. "Anytime, Em. You know that."

"Somebody left a note in my locker." Emily says, and I stiffen. Her too? "From 'A'?"

"You too?" She asks, and I sigh. "Do you think it's her?" Aria asks, and Emily shrugs.

"Only Allison could have known-"

She stops, as if trying to word something. "Known what?" I ask.

"It was…"

"Personal?"

"I really believed she was dead."

Allison? Dead? I figured this was all a stunt, and when she comes back she would get all the attention and ditch us for some seniors or something. I don't know.

"We all did." Aria says, and I was about to argue when something caught my eye. Dad's light is on, but the shades are drawn, as if hiding something. Which is crazy, right? What more could he be hiding?

"Could she really be back?" Emily asks, and I detected the faintest hint of hope in her tone.

"I think she's playing with us." I say, causing them both to stare at me.

"Why would she do that?" Emily asked.

"Because she's Allison. Wasn't that her favorite sport?"

"Should we tell someone?" Em asks, and I stare wildly at her. "No!" I say a bit overly loudly. I didn't want anyone to find out what happened that night, especially not the cops.

They both nod. After a few beats of silence, Emily finally says, "I'm glad you guys are back."

"It's funny." Aria starts. "Even though I grew up here, I still feel like a total outsider." I had to agree with that one. Everyone had moved on with their lives, and I was stuck here, reliving the freaking past. A horrible, horrible past.

"Me too." Em agrees.

**LATER THAT SAME NIGHT**

Just as I was about to take a drive with Aria my phone chirps. I pick it up, and it says it was an unknown number. Strange. Opening the text message, I gasp.

It was a picture of me and Allison, heated looks on our faces. But that wasn't what had upset me. It was because there was another Allison, creeping up behind her, shovel in hand.

**Look familiar, Alex? –A**

Oh. My. God.

**IN THE CAR**

We were driving around, talking about nothing. That was until we saw police cars and ambulances pull up. What was going on?

Getting out of the car, we move a little closer. I saw Spencer looking at the scene from her driveway and motion for Aria to follow me. "I heard that Hannah got called to the police station today." Aria says, and Spencer turns to us with steely eyes. "She would never talk about-"

"The Jenna thing?" We all turn to see Hannah, all skinny and beautiful, looking at us. "We made a promise."

**BACK AT HOME**

We were curled up on the couch, watching the news. Current owners of the residence were in the process of demolishing the structure to make room for a remodeling project when workers made the gruesome discovery." The reporter said, and I sit up a little straighter. What discovery? The image of a coroner wheeling a body out of Allison's old backyard popped up on the screen, and I gasped.

"Parents of the deceased were unavailable for comment but a family spokesperson confirmed the gazebo was under construction the summer thirteen-year-old Alison DiLaurentis disappeared. The family moved from Rosewood two years after their daughter went missing."

No. No. This wasn't Allison. I mean, she wasn't dead. She couldn't be dead.

"Tonight they have asked for privacy as they come to terms with the sad ending of a three year old mystery. And local authorities are coming to terms with a killer at large in Rosewood."

Allison DiLaurentis was dead.

**AT THE FUNERAL**

I still couldn't believe it. The next day at school was sad and depressing. No one really talked. I mean, how could you? One of the most brilliant girls in Rosewood was gone.

Walking into the crowded chapel, it was too much for me. I walked off and saw Hannah there, looking into the crowd. "Hey." I say as I approach her.

"Hey."

"You look…good."

"Don't you even go there."

Hannah used to be fat. It wasn't like she was huge, but she just carried a little extra weight around. It didn't matter to me what she looked like, but Allison was always making jabs about it and I felt horrible. No matter how many times I told her to stop, she still did it.

After a few minutes of random chatting, I spot Allison's parents. "I'll talk to you later, OK?"

"Miss. DiLaurentis?" I speak softly, knowing how hard this all must be for her. She smiles and hugs me.

"Alex. I'm glad you came. I asked all of the other girls to sit up front. It's what she would've wanted." She says, and I nod.

"Of course."

I walk down the center aisle, passing Mona… Ben… some guy sitting with Melissa… and Noel. He looks at me as I pass him, and I turn. Then I stop dead.

It was a picture of Allison, smiling and tilting her head in that way she always did. I barley even notice when a hand grabs mine.

Hannah. I squeeze it. Sitting next to her, we all join hands. This was so sad.

"Poor Ali." Emily says.

"Can you believe what a scene this is?" Hannah asks.

"Popular in life and death." Spencer responds, and I smile a little.

I notice Emily barley keeping it together. She looks as if she was going to burst out in tears any moment. Pulling out a flask from her bag, Hannah hands it to her.

"No thanks. I don't-"

"I think today…you do."

When Aria's phone buzzes, we all look at her with strange expressions. "Anyone we know?" Spencer asks.

"Just my mom. Texting from the back."

"Wait. Emily, Aria and I aren't the only one's getting texts from 'A', are we?" I ask. Their silence is answer enough. Suddenly a chatter buzz fills the room. I turn to see…Jenna?

"Oh my God." Spencer says. Her brother, Toby, was leading her down the aisle, and when they finally sit down, he glares at us. What the hell did we ever do to him? Oh yeah.

We made his sister blind, and he took the fall for us.

That's a pretty good reason to hate somebody.

"Did you girls see that Jenna was here? I didn't know her and Ali were friends." Miss. DiLaurentis walks over and says, and I sigh.

"They weren't." I respond.

After the funeral, we all walk out together. An attractive man in a dark suit approaches us. "Spencer, Emily, Alex, Aria, Hannah." He greets. I frown at him. How did he know our names?

"Do we know you?" Spence asks. Apparently she was just as confused as I was.

He pulls out a business card. "I understand that you two were good friends with the victim?" Obviously a cop.

"We were." Aria says.

"I'm going to need to talk to each of you." Oh no! He didn't- he couldn't possibly know about that night, could he? "We talked to the police after Ali went missing." Spencer states.

"And I intend to go over each of your statements. This is no longer a missing person's investigation. This is a murder. And you can be assured, I will found out what happened that summer." He walks away, all creepy and stuff.

Damn it.

Was is just me, or did that sound like a threat? We all watch Jenna leave. I notice Wilden watching us and look away. "Do you think he knows…?" I start.

"No." Spencer says. "How could he?"

Suddenly all of our phones vibrate.

"Oh my god."

"It's from-"

"I got one too."

"I'm still here bitches. And I know everything. –A." Spence reads aloud.

Holy shit.

**A/N: Edited.**


	5. Counting Stars

A/N: Sorry for the long update, but it's Christmas time! What could you expect? Anywho…this is my present to you all…enjoy ;)

**I don't own PLL. I only own Alex Montgomery, so yeah.**

**The Jenna Thing**

_Lately, I've been, I've been losing sleep  
_

_Dreamin' about the things that we could be_

_But baby, I've been, I've been prayin' hard_

_Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars  
_

_Yeah we'll be counting stars_

**-One Republic, Counting Stars**

* * *

After the funeral, we all met up at the Grill, where we were discussing what happened earlier.

"Why was Jenna there?" Aria asked.

Good question. If I remember right, Jenna hated Allison, and probably wanted her dead. A lot of people did. "The cop acted like we were guilty or something." Hannah said, and I nod in agreement.

"Do you think we looked guilty?" Emily questions worriedly.

"Except the lie about 'The Jenna Thing'." I comment, and Spencer gives me a look. "We promised we'd never bring up 'The Jenna Thing' again, remember? It never happened."

Aria scoffed. "Have you found a way to forget? I still wake up in the middle of the night-"

"Aria, it was an accident." She responds, and I frown.

"Was it an accident?" I finally spoke up. I mean, what if Allison planned the whole thing? It was no secret that she was maybe a little jealous of Jenna. What if she wanted her out of the picture, for good?

Hannah, who apparently had a drink everywhere now, dumped the rest of her booze into her Diet Coke. I see an old man a few tables across looking at her, giving her a 'kids these days' look. "It's medicinal." Hannah says, causing me to laugh. "Cramps."

"I don't get it. How can 'A' know something about me that only Allison knew?" Emily says, and we all share a look. "Ali knew all of our secrets, but we didn't know any of hers." Aria states, and Spencer and I glance at each other.

"We knew some." We say on sync, and they all glare at us.

"Go on." Aria says.

"Talk." Hannah agrees.

"We can't." I say. They all stare disbelieving at us. "Guys, you can't just drop a bomb like that and clam up." Aria complains, and I shrug.

It wasn't like I didn't want to, but I made a promise. "She'd _so_ kill us if we told you." Spencer replies.

Hannah rolled her blue orbs. "She's dead!"

I sighed. Did it count if the person was dead? I groaned and threw my head back. "Well…Ali was seeing someone that summer." I finally cracked. "Why is it that she didn't want us to know?" Aria demanded, and Spence says, "He was older. And he had a girlfriend."

"Who was it?" Emily pressed. "Can we get initials?"

"She never told us the name." I say, and they all huff. "That's only a half secret!" Hannah pointed out. So it was.

"It's more than you ever got." I crossed my arms over my chest.

"How was it that Allison told us nothing but we told her everything?" Aria asked, and I ponder that for a bit. Maybe she liked having the control over us? "She made us feel like she was a part of something special." Emily says, smiling a bit.

"We were." Hannah says.

"I miss that." I comment.

"Me too." Spencer says.

"I miss Ali."

There was a moment of silence. I missed her too. She was my best friend, before any of the other girls. She helped me, even if it wasn't the best way. She always came through. "She's gonna need more than that." Aria says, and Emily responds, "She hated the taste, loved the rush." She was referring to the coffee a server just plopped in front of us.

Spencer pours a whole packet of sugar into hers, and I did the same. There is nothing wrong with a little energy.

"I can't believe you still wear that." Hannah says, looking at the friendship bracelet Emily was wearing. "Allison still wears hers. Wore."

My mind goes back to Jenna. Why was it such a shock to see her? "So…while we were away, Jenna was too?" I ask. "She left Rosewood that night and never came back." Spencer replies.

"If Jenna is 'A' then this is about revenge." Aria says, and I agree.

She probably still hated us. She probably wanted us dead too. "Sorry, but 'A' is watching us and…Jenna can't see." Hannah says. "Those sunglasses aren't a fashion statement. She's blind." She takes a fry and munches on it.

"You know, one of these days she is going to kick your ass," I warned Hannah. She just shrugged.

"It won't be today, so it doesn't matter, now does it?" She shrugged, giving me a lazy smirk. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to the main conversation.

"When Ali didn't come home I knew something terrible must have happened to her, but there was a part of me that imagined someday she would just show up." Spencer says.

"I figured she was with some guy." I say.

"She was lying on a beach somewhere-" Emily starts.

"Getting a tan with that hot lifeguard who worked at the pool." Hannah finishes. "What was his name again?"

"Who cares? 'Save me!'" I said. We all laugh, and for a moment, we were all friends again. "I can't believe she's gone." Spence murmurs softly. Me either Spence, me either.

Suddenly we all hear the sound of tapping. We all look up only to see Jenna there, walking towards a table, cane in hand.

And just like that, our moment was over.

We all stand up and walk out, going in four different directions. That's literally how you clear out a room.

* * *

As Aria and I walk home, I think about Jason for a moment. Where was he? He wasn't at the funeral- or at least, I didn't see him there. Would he remember me? Probably not- he was stoned every time he saw us. He probably saw a talking unicorn when he saw me. Stoners. You gotta love them.

"I thought about you all day. Are you OK?" Ezra's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. Wait, Ezra? What was he, stalking us now?

"I will be." My twin responds. "It's hard to lose someone close to you. It changes you."

"We lost Allison a year ago. Today was more about…admitting it." I speak up, and he smiles softly at me. "I would offer you a ride but-"

"But I'm just not that into you." I say, patting his shoulder. "But hey. My sister's available. A low blow if you ask me, but whatever suits you…"

He chuckled while Aria rolled her eyes. "I meant what I said, Ezra. I don't want to do anything that could get you in trouble."

Wait- when did she say this? Were they sneaking around behind my back? Not cool hot teacher, not cool. "And being alone with you in my car would probably lead to trouble."

Aria smiles flirtatiously. Oh, yuck. I'd rather walk home. "Right here guys."

"But if it's only a few miles…"

"Um…hello?" I speak up, completely freaked out.

"Ezra…"

I look around, desperate for a distraction. "What'd you buy?" I say, looking at the shopping back in his hands. "A CD. The Fray."

I gasp. "A gift? For me? Aww, Ezra, you shouldn't have!" I say, reaching for it. He shakes his head and pulls it back. "It's not for you."

I fake pout. "And here I thought you were being nice!" I complain, but he ignored me. The nerve of this jerk! "B26."

They look into each others eyes for a moment, and just when I was about to walk away, a girl from English just happened to be ''walking past''. They immediately jumped away from each other. "Hey, Mr. Fitz. Aria."

"What am I, invisible?" I huff when she doesn't say hey to me. "Hi, Beth." Ezra says.

"Cute car."

Still invisible.

''Good night, Mr. Fitz." Aria says. ''I'll see you at school." He replies and gets into his car. "Oh, hey Alex!" Beth finally says, and I look at her in an 'are you serious?' kind of way.

* * *

After I took a shower, I saw Mike sitting in my room. "What are you doing in here?" I snapped. Every time Mike was in my room, it meant he probably pulled some stupid prank or something.

"Relax, sister. I just wanted to see if you were OK. It was your best friend's funeral…" He trailed off.

I looked at him in shock. "_What_? You came to see if I was OK, about _Allison's _death?"

"Yes."

"But you hated her!"

"She was still your friend, Alex. I know I may not be the best brother, but when it comes to this kind of stuff, we have to put that aside and be there for each other." He said seriously, looking into my eyes.

"That was deep, man." I nodded my head. ''Oh, I got it from a movie." He answered.

I smiled, and sat down next to him on my bed. "Hey Mike?"

"Yes Alex?"

"I love you." I blurted.

"I love you too, Alex."

**A/N: Edited, and I added the part with Mike.**


	6. The A Team

_A/N: I lied. I'm updating now. I'm extremely bored right now, and it's like 2:00 in the morning. What can I say? I'm a night owl._

**I don't own PLL**.

**The Jenna Thing**

_And they say, she's in the class A team_

_Stuck in her daydream, been this way since eighteen, but lately  
_

_Her face seems slowly sinking, wasting_

_Crumbling like pastries, and they scream_

_The worst things in life come free to us_

_And we're just under the upper hand, and go mad for a couple grams_

_And we don't wanna go outside, tonight_

_And in a pipe, she flies to the Motherland, or sells love to another man_

_It's too cold outside for angles to fly_

**-Ed Sheeran, The A Team**

* * *

The next morning, Aria, Mom, and I sat at the table, chatting it up. We were talking about how good Hannah looked in her dress at the funeral.

If I was a boy, I'd totally tap that.

I'D LISTEN TO HER, 'CAUSE I KNOW HOW IT HURTS!

No, I'm just kidding.

But I'd still tap that.

"I had to look twice before realizing it was Hannah."

"Right?" Aria agreed. "You are preaching to the congregation." I say, and they both stare at me weirdly.

"What?"

"Choir." Mom says. "What does a choir have to do with anything?" I ask, completely confused.

"It's preaching to the choir. You're _supposed_ to preach to the congregation."

What were they talking about? Couldn't they just accept my comment and move on?

"Whatever."

A bunch of jerks they were.

"Anyway, that was some funeral dress. Her mother didn't buy that from _Curvy Girl_."

"Who didn't buy what from _Curvy Girl_?" Dad asked, walking in. Mm-hmm. Eavesdropping much?

"No one anymore." I say. "No time for breakfast?" I wasn't accusing him of anything, but I just have to know. I mean, he was my business, right?

"No, and I'll probably be late tonight too."

Now I'm accusing him. We've been here what, two weeks, and he's already found another student to sleep around with? God, please help him.

"Late nights already? What's this about?" Mom jokes, but Aria and I share a look that says _'Should you handle this or should I?'_

"Yeah, what's this about?" Aria says, and I cross my arms over my chest. I bet I looked super-scary right now. Yeah, pretty bad-ass, huh?

"What's it about? Being gone for a year. Playing catch-up, changing meetings, and changing my curriculum, demanding students."

Yeah, demanding students on his dick.

"Maybe your family's demands should come first." Aria says, staring him down. Ooh, she got you there.

All three of us were staring at each other. Why, oh why, did Dad have to be such a cheater? Wait; did that show Cheaters come on anymore? I wonder if I can call in…

"I'm gonna be late." I say, standing up. After a swift good-bye, Aria and I walk out.

* * *

Later on at school, I see Spencer playing some sport. "Hey, Spence!" I call, running up to her. "Oh, hey Alex."

She stretches her neck and soars the ball right into the net.

"Nice."

We both turn to see Emily, walking with a pretty girl I've never seen before. Aww, did Em have a crush? "I heard you were gunning for varsity again."

"I have a shot, so…"

"When a Hastings has a shot, she takes a shot."

Hm. Sounds like a drinking game.

Maya smiles. "Is that a drinking game?"

I grin at her. "That's what I was thinking!" I exclaim. "It should be." Spencer replies, smiling over at me.

"Spencer, Alex, this is Maya." Emily introduces. Maya…where have I heard that name before? Wait!

"You're the girl-"

"Who moved into a dead girl's house? I know."

Did she really just say that? Gosh, have some sensitivity, will you?

"I'm sorry. I can't believe I just said that."

"Me either." Spencer says, and I nudge her.

"I think Brad Pitt and I are missing the same sensitivity chip."

"It's fine. It's not like her ghost will haunt you, right?" I ask, and everyone chuckles awkwardly. "Hey, we were about to go get some coffee, you want to join?"

"I totally would, but I have to go find someone to bother." I respond, and they stare at me like I've grown two heads. "Why do you…?" Maya started.

"Because, it's funny to see people's reactions. Sometimes I get the overweight kids to play tag with me just so I can watch them run. It's mean, but boy, is it funny."

Everyone just stared at me until Spencer changed the subject. "I would kill for a latte, but this is my only time to practice."

Ha, ha! Anywho…off to play tag. "See you later guys!" I call and skip away.

In the school, my twin rudely grabs me. Violent much? "I asked Ezra to sign a paper that transferred me out of his class!" She burst out.

I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about that. Like, did she expect me to be sad or something? Sometimes, my sister really confused me.

"Well? Aren't you gonna say something?" She demands.

"What would I say? That you're making a good decision? Because I think you are."

"_What_? You're supposed to say that I'm making this terrible decision and that I should rip this paper up right now because we can make this thing work no matter what, and it could only be our little secret and-"

"Will the following students please come to the office? Aria and Alex Montgomery, Emily Fields, Spencer Hastings and Hannah Marin."

Thank goodness the lady interrupted my twins little rant there. And we just stood there until we were the only 5 in the hallway. Together, we walk forward. Suddenly my phone vibrates. We stop as I pull it out.

"Dead Girls Walking."

Well, that wasn't nice at all.

Just then, one of the kids I play tag with ran down the hall. I nudged Spencer and jerked my finger towards the kid. Her lips twitched as she tried to fight a smile.

"Doesn't seem so mean now, does it?"

**A/N: Edited, and added some parts at the beginning and the part with the kid running. **


	7. My Body

_A/N: REVIEW! Please?_

**I don't own PLL.**

**The Jenna Thing**

_Stop, the train is ridin'_

_Down to the station where you lived_

_When we were school kids_

_Hey, the rails are caught now_

_And I am falling down the fools in a spiral  
_

_Down this town of steel_

_My body tells me no, but I won't quit, 'cause I want more_

_I want more_

**-Young The Giant, My Body**

* * *

When we got to the office, I was a little surprised to see Wilden there. But not that much, considering the fact that he was the one who threatened us at the funeral. Squeezing together, we all manage to fit on the small couch. If Emily didn't get her elbow out of my ribcage, there was going to be a huge problem.

"Allison woke you up." Wilden said, looking at me. I nodded. "Yes, she did."

"And you," He said, talking to Spencer now. "Thought you heard a scream."

I swear cops get more annoying by the century. Didn't we say it all before?

"I said that, yeah." She responded.

"And when you three woke up it the barn- Allison was gone, but so were Alex and Spencer?" He questioned Aria, Hannah, and Emily.

"Yes, I woke up before them and realized they were gone." Spence answered.

"So you went to look for them?"

"That's what happened."

Wilden turned back to me. "Was this a slumber party?"

Are you an idiot?

"Is this an investigation?" Spencer countered.

I shook my head and bit my lip. You gotta love those Hastings'.

"No, just a routine follow-up. Why did you all fall asleep?"

Was he serious right now? That was like asking a bee why he likes honey. "I guess we were all tired." Aria says.

"Is that how it was, Hannah?" Wilden asked, smirking a bit.

I studied his face for a moment. He seemed to be taunting her a bit. But _why_?

"We've told you everything we know. Just like we did the night she went missing." I speak up, and he nods.

"Yeah, I know. It's just like it was last year. Almost sounds rehearsed."

"Well maybe it's just like last year because that's what actually happened." I snap. Gosh, why didn't he accept the fact that it's the truth? Well, half the truth. But it's one and the same, right?

We both stare each other down.

"We already told you everything we know." Aria says.

* * *

Later at lunch, we all sit at a table. "He knows were lying." My twin says nervously. "Lying is not a crime." Hannah objects, and I nod in agreement.

"It is when you're giving false statements to the police." Spencer says, causing Hannah to scoff.

"Oh, please. We lied about drinking. The truth that matters is that we don't know what happened to Ali that night."

"We also know about someone who might have hurt her." I continued, tossing a tater tot in my mouth. Hey, these weren't half bad!

"We should have told the police the truth about Jenna's accident the night it happened." Emily adds, looking guilty. "I wanted to, remember?"

"We had the chance to do more than tell the truth. We had the chance to stop Ali." Aria said.

"But…we didn't." I say, and we all look remorseful. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Mona looking at us in a hurt way. I glance over and smile at her. She smiles back, but still walks away.

What was that about?

"Telling the police about what happened to Jenna isn't going to make her see again," Spencer says, "It's only going to ruin our lives."

"But it's only fair, right? I mean, we did ruin her life." I comment, looking over to where a boy just bumped into Jenna.

"What? She's in school now, too?" Hannah huffs.

My twin gets up and walks over to her. I swear I just heard her invite her to sit with us…nope, she did. Dammit, Aria! "Here's a chair." She puts her right next to me.

What did I do to deserve this, other than making her blind? Actually, now that I think about it, I do kind of deserve this…

"You're sitting between Alex and Spencer. Emily is directly across from you."

Nobody spoke for a moment. We just sat there, staring at each other awkwardly.

"I guess this would be Allison's chair, huh?" Jenna asks.

Emily smiled softly. "We're not even at the same table."

"You know, she came to see me after the accident." Jenna continued as if Emily hadn't spoken.

Allison came to see Jenna? Wow, she must have been really guilty.

"Allison did?" Spencer asks wearily. Hannah pops a tater tot into her mouth, and I fiddle with my charm necklace.

"So many people misunderstood her. But I knew exactly who she was." The blind girl mused, and I raised an eyebrow. That sounded like a double meaning. What the hell else did she know?

"When did you get back Jenna? I heard you were in Philadelphia at a school for the visually impaired." Spencer asked, causing me to snort. Visually impaired?

"You can say blind Spencer. It's not a dirty word. You know, this used to be the fun table. What happened to you girls?"

_We were all in Emily's bedroom for the 4th of July, trying on clothes, dancing to music. We all watch her as she models the top, but then she turns around and glares. Holy shit, she can be a scary bitch._

_"I see you!" She yells and stomps over to the window. This chick has officially lost her nut. "Oh my God, I can't believe it!" She exclaims, and we all rushed over to see what the big deal was._

_"What is it Ali? What did you see?" Emily asks. _

_"He was in that tree, spying on us! I'm so creeped out!"_

_Who was watching us? _

_"Who?" Spencer asked. _

_"That perv, Toby Cavanaugh."_

_Gosh. This guy again?_

_"Are you sure?" Aria asked. _

_"Yeah, Aria! He was right there!" Ali snapped. She shudders. "I'm sure he saw us all naked."_

_Yuck. Wasn't there a spying law? There should be. _

_"We should tell someone." Aria says. "We could. But I have a better idea." Ali grinned evilly. _

_Oh, boy. Every time Allison says, "I have a better idea!" it usually ends with us doing something bad._

_A few minutes later, Ali leads the way as we snuck to the Cavanaugh's garage. She pulls out a stink bomb and smirks evilly. "Are you sure he's not in there?" I ask. I had to make sure this plan was full proof._

_"He's not, okay? Spencer, do you have a lighter?"_

_"Let's wait a second." Emily says, and I know she's nervous. "What, Emily?"_

_"I don't want to do this." She complains, and I sigh. Here we go. _

_"Fine. Go back. But you're on your own." Ali said._

_"Maybe Emily's right. If we tell the police they'll handle it." My twin agrees, and I huff._

_"Look, Toby is a creep, alright? He watched us in your bedroom, Emily. He saw us naked. He deserves this." Ali snapped her voice harsh. _

_Of course I knew she was wrong, but what good would the police be? They'll just tell him not to do it again._

_"Are you sure it was Toby?" Spencer asked. I knew she had a little crush on him, and didn't really want to do this._

_"Yes, and it's a stink bomb for God's sake! It's not like we're nuking the place. Now let's do it." She commanded. _

"_Control freak." I muttered, and she turned to glare at me. _

_We all sneak closer to his hide out, and Allison peers inside. "Give me the lighter."_

_Gleefully, she throws it in. Spencer times her. "Let's get out of hear."_

_We stop dead when we hear a scream. We turn around to see the whole garage on fire._

_What the hell did we just do?_

The sound of our phones chirping at the same time brings me out of my daze. No doubt from A.

**If only she knew how guilty you look- A**

I glance around the cafeteria, only to find a bunch of people on their phones. It could be anybody!

* * *

In English, we all sit down. No Aria. I kind of feel bad. They probably won't have any more make out sessions in bathrooms now. "Take your seats, please." Ezra says.

"Where's Aria?" Emily asked.

I look around nervously. "Maybe you should ask Mr. Fitz." Hannah says, giving me a meaningful look.

How the hell did she figure it out?

"Am I late?" Mona asked, walking in. Yes, yeas she was.

"It's Mona, right?" Ezra asked.

"That's right Mr. Fritz."

I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. _Fritz_?

"Take your seat, please." He chuckled lightly, shaking his head.

A few minutes later, after he tells us to start To Kill a Mockingbird, my twin walks in, places a sheet on his desk, and sits next to me. I give her a questioning look. I thought she transferred?

* * *

Later that day, Aria and me decide to drive to the Grille. "So, you tried to transfer out of the class, but cant. So now you're just gonna ignore him? That doesn't make any sense at all, especially after the whole funeral-hook-up thing." I comment.

She groans and nods. "I know."

"Hey." We both turn to see Spencer there. "I was gonna e-mail you when I got home. How weird was that lunch?"

"On a scale from one to ten, I would say eleven." Aria responded.

"Do you really think that Allison went to see Jenna in the hospital?" Spencer asked.

I shrugged. "It's possible."

"Why would she keep that from us?"

"She kept a lot of things from us."

I look past her and at her table, where I see Melissa and a very hot guy. "Is that a new fiancé?" Aria asked.

"Yep."

"Is he as uptight as Melissa?" I ask.

"No one's as uptight as Melissa."

This was true. "I heard you were nominated for class president today. Congrats." I say, and she smiles.

"I actually think I'm gonna pass on it this year." Spence said, biting her lip.

I stare at her in shock. Was she serious? "Will the real Spencer Hastings please stand up?" My twin says, probably as shocked as me.

"My parents let me redo the barn this summer and I loved doing it. I want to take a design class at Hollis and there's no way I could do both."

"When can we see it?" I ask.

"You won't. Melissa's there now."

Everyone is seated at her table now. "I better get back." She said.

I grab her arm before she leaves. "Who's the Hottie?" I demand.

"Wren."

"Wren doesn't sound American." I commented.

She nods. "That's because Wren is British."

"She snagged a good one,"

"You're telling me." Spencer laughed as she walked away.

* * *

Later that night, the whole family was at the movies watching something. I didn't even know why I said I would come. Maybe because being alone in a house kind of creeps me out. Like, a lot.

So here I was, bored out of my mind until I spot Ezra. What, he was still stalking us? Did I have to call the police?

He walks over to us with a huge smile on his face. Aww, he missed me! "Mr. Fitz, hi!" Aria says. "This is my mother, Ella."

He immediately goes back to teacher mode. "Mr. Fitz, you're the new English teacher." Mom says, smiling.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Montgomery."

"Ella, please. We're an extremely informal family. Are you here to see the movie?"

"Yes, it's one of my favorites."

"Aria's too. She told us a lot about you, but she left out the 'you're very young' part."

"But she didn't leave out the 'you're very hot part'." I add, and Aria blushes and Ezra looks away.

"We should get going. The movie is starting."

"I'll…see you inside." He says.

We walk in, and the theater is almost empty. "Mom, no one is here!" I complained. She gave me a look.

"Then why did you agree to come, Alex?"

"I didn't want to be home alone…it's boring!" I whined.

Mom rolled her eyes. "Then why didn't you stay with Hannah or something?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Whatever," I mumbled, still not happy about being here. I _hated_ black and white movies, but my sister loved them.

"Mr. Fitz!" Mom calls out. Looks like Aria's got some serious competition. "Come sit with us!"

Oh my God. Aria looks like she's about to die from embarrassment. And to make matters even better, he sat right next to her. I snickered as she gave me the death stare.

This was going to be a long movie.

* * *

Later on, Dad calls me downstairs. I notice Aria, looking wet and flustered. What was she doing at that coffee shop?

"Look you two, I don't like to lie, but sometimes telling the truth does more harm than good. When we were in Europe, you found a way to forget what happened."

Because we were away from the place that it happened.

"Are you…seeing her again?" Aria asked.

"She teaches at Hollis, so I do see her. But not like that." Dad responded, sounding slightly shocked.

"Are you in love with her?" I ask, and he frowns.

"I had very strong feelings for Meredith, but my attraction to her was as much of a surprise to me as it was to her. I had no intention of being unfaithful to your mother, and you're probably too young to understand this - but the truth is - I gave into my emotions."

I wasn't too young to understand, it just never happened to me before. "Mr. Ping was very happy to see us." Mom and Mike come through the door with takeout.

"By the look of all that food, I'm sure he was." Dad says.

Mike begins eating it. I smack the back of his head. "OW! What was that for?"

"For eating the damn food without us!"

"Language, Alex." Mom warned. "Sorry Mom."

And for once, things are starting to feel normal again.

**A/N: Edited, added some parts to the movies, and changed the Wilden scene around a bit.**


	8. Pretend It's OK

**I do not own PLL**

**To Kill A Mocking Girl**

_I remember the day when, we were out all night_

_I wish that I could get the day back_

_And tell you it's alright_

_Because we all do the same thing, we just don't realize_

_That we're livin' on borrowed time_

_What would you do? What would you say?_

_How does it feel? Pretend it's OK_

_My eyes deceive me, but it's still the same_

_Pretend it's OK_

**-Little Mix, Pretend It's OK**

* * *

I sighed as Emily, Spencer, Hannah, Aria and I trudged through the woods, creating a memorial for Allison. "Whose idea was this, again?" Hannah asked.

"Emily's mom." Spencer informed.

Curse you, Pam! And why did we pick the woods? Couldn't a small shrine in front of her old house suffice? Oh yeah…Maya lived there now. Crap.

"She just said that we had to do something for Ali." Emily said.

"Well couldn't we do something without mosquitoes?" I said. I mean, they are irritating the hell out of me.

"Not mosquitoes- they're gnats." Aria corrected.

"Oh, who gives a crap?" I retorted, swatting the little shits away from my face. Spencer snickered, and I elbowed her in the ribs. She gave me the death stare, causing me to smirk.

Alex: 1

Spencer: 10,876

I'm slowly catching up.

"Whatever! They're small and annoying and flying up my nose." Hannah complained.

"Well, they're attracted to your perfume. And your hair products. And your lip gloss." Spencer teased.

"So what are you saying? I attract flies?" Hannah smiled slyly.

I shook my head. "You little seductress."

"What can I say, Alex? I'm just naturally attractive to anything. Even flies." She winked at me.

"Gnats!" Aria corrected.

"Who gives a crap?" I said again, earning a glare.

"I do."

"Do you guys think this is the wrong way?" Emily asks, stopping.

Thank God. My feet are killing me.

"No. This is it. I remember that tree. The halfway point. There were 156 steps left." Spence says.

I give her a look. How the hell did she remember that? "Have you been out here since Allison…?"

"Me? No! No way!"

"But you remember that tree?" Aria questioned, tilting her head slightly.

"It's not that weird. We came out here in 8th grade like every day. Even after." Hannah said.

Good point.

"I think this is the wrong place to do this…whatever you call it, shrine!" Spencer said.

Emily looked deeply offended. "It's not a shrine. It's just a place to remember Allison." She said. "What's wrong with that?"

"Doing it here will make Wilden think we have something to hide, which we don't."

"You're worried what other people think?"

"Well aren't you? Do you really want to give that creepy detective more reasons to question us?"

Hannah, who looked very conflicted during their 'argument', continued walking. "Hannah? Why are you so quiet?" I asked. She was _never_ quiet.

"I'm trying to keep the bugs that are in my nose, out of my mouth."

"You're allowed to have an opinion on this." Emily stated.

"Well, I say we hold off and not remember her until we're sure she's not still here." She shrugged.

"WHAT?!" We all burst out simultaneously. "You think she's still alive?"

"They found her body," Spence says. "Now, I'm officially scared. Can we just-"

"You asked for my opinion. I don't believe she's really gone." With that, Hannah began walking again.

"We went to her funeral!" Aria points out.

"Yeah, and when we left, we all got a text from her."

"It wasn't her!" I argue. "Someone is messing with us."

"How do you know? And what about all those nasty messages? How does 'A' know only stuff Ali knew?"

"Okay, this conversation is giving me a chill." My twin says.

"Spencer, have you gotten any more messages?" Emily asked.

"Haven't you?" She asked, and she was about to reply when we heard a rustling. Holy crap! We're being followed.

"Did you hear that?" Emily asks fearfully. "Yes, I heard that. I'm standing right next to you." Aria said.

"Hello? Is anybody out there?" Hannah called.

"It's probably just a rabbit." Spencer reasoned.

"Hello?" Hannah called again.

"It's a rabbit Hannah, it's not gonna answer you." I say.

"Can we just get to the shed?" Emily says.

I could tell she was spooked. So am I Em, so am I.

We heard the noise again. "Okay, that is definitely not a rabbit, someone's out there!" Hannah gripped my arm. "Let's turn around!" Emily urges, and we all follow suit. Until our phone rings. All of our phones. Holy shit, it's 'A'!

**Heads up, BFF'S. It's open season and I'm hunting. –A**

We all look around, trying to see if anyone else was there, only to come up with nothing.

* * *

The next morning, Mom, Dad, Aria and I sat at a breakfast cafe. We were discussing the book we had to read for Ezra's class, _To Kill a Mockingbird_. "Well, you're pretty far into it." Dad commented.

Aria nodded. "Yeah. Like 60 or so pages left and I don't want it to end."

They all look at me, waiting for my opinion. "I…like birds." I comment. They shake their heads.

"You should read her biography next." Dad says. "The father worship thing becomes a lot clearer." Mom says, and I snicker.

"Well, I would worship you each a lot more if you got me another one of these." I say, holding up my plate.

"The poppy seed? We'll split it." Mom says, getting up. "Make sure your father doesn't drink all my coffee, please."

I laughed and nodded. "You like your teacher?" Dad asked. Aria and I exchanged worried glances. "What?"

"Your English teacher, do you like him?"

Aria looked at a loss for words. "Oh! Oh, uh, yeah. He's okay." She said.

"What's his name again?" Dad furrowed his eyebrows.

"You're getting old, man. His name is Ez-'' I started, earning an elbow from Aria. "Mr. Fitz." I say through clenched teeth. Why were twins so rude?

"So, we might have a copy of this biography at school. What's it called?" Aria changed the subject, giving me a look that said _'Shut the hell up'_.

I know when I'm not wanted. It's all good, Aria.

"Oh, don't worry I have a copy in my office. It might inspire you."

"To do what, write a novel?" Aria joked.

"You've got it in you." Dad shrugged.

I frowned. "Well, what do I have in me?" I asked hopefully.

"Well, you might become one of those Switzerland hobos, you know, the bald ones." He says with a straight face.

My jaw dropped in shock. Wasn't he supposed to say something poetic, or inspiring? "You, my good man, are the worst inspiration ever." I pouted, crossing my arms over my chest.

They both laughed at me.

"Byron?" A surprised voice asked. We all turn to see a pretty blonde girl with an excited smile on her face bounding over to us.

Meredith.

Huff. What did this home wrecker want now? Money?

"Hey. Hi, how are you doing?" He asked, an uncomfortable look passing his face.

"Sorry." She apologized. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

I was overcome with anger. How dare she show her face around me?

_Aria and I stopped dead upon seeing our dad kiss a woman that was __**not**__ my mother. They pulled away, and that's when he saw us. The little tramp followed his gaze and saw us._

I turned back to my dad, a glare on my face.

"Aria, Alex, this is Meredith Sorenson. She also teaches in the department. _My_ department. And this is Aria and Alex. My daughters." Dad says, giving us a look.

"Oh. Aria, Alex. Hi, of course you are." She smiled at me. I only glared, earning another elbow in the ribs. "Did you get my message?"

Dad, who was busy making sure Mom, was nowhere in sight, responded, "Yes, I did. I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to call you back."

"No, that's okay. The just need the referral by Monday."

"I'll get to it as soon as I get back to campus. Is there an e-mail?"

Meredith nods and pulls out her planner. "Here." She says, walking next to him. "So how does it feel to be home? This town must be dull after spending a whole year overseas." She says to Aria.

Aria smiles falsely. "Not really." She replies a bit icily.

"Okay, well uh, I'll send that before lunch." Dad smiles politely at her.

"Thanks." She stares at him, biting her lip. BITING HER LIP! That's like the #1 sign that a woman is coming on to you! "I'm so glad I ran into you. Nice to meet you two, welcome home!"

"Why hasn't she graduated?" I demand, watching her strut away.

"She has Alex, she's a teacher's assistant. Not mine, but her office is right across the hall. I can't pretend she doesn't exist. It's a small college."

"Not small enough." Aria mumbles into her coffee.

True that, sister.

**A/N: Edited, added some parts to the beginning, added some parts to the end. **


	9. We Are Young

**I do not own PLL.**

**To Kill a Mocking Girl**

_Excuse me a second I, I need to get my story straight  
_

_My friends are in the bathroom getting higher than the Empire State_

_My lover she's waiting for me, just across the bar_

_My seats been taken by some sunglasses, asking 'bout a scar and_

_I know I gave it to you months ago_

_I know you're trying to forget_

_But between the drinks a subtle things, the wholes in my apologies_

_You know I'm tryin' hard to take it back_

_So if by the time, the bar closes, and you feel like falling down_

_I'll carry you home_

**-Fun., We Are Young**

* * *

Is everybody in love? I mean, everyone's talking about the huge party at Noel Khan's place tomorrow night, and how they're going to get 'laid'. Jeez, I need a boyfriend or something.

"Is there any chance your parents want to adopt me?" I heard Spencer say to Aria. I was walking over there when someone bumped into me, sending me tumbling to the ground.

"Shit." I curse. I was about to pick up my books when someone did it for me.

"I'm sorry." A quiet voice offered. I look up to see…Toby Cavanaugh? What the hell was he doing here?

"Uh-it's- uh- okay." I stutter. He looked pretty hot for a boy who was accused of setting his garage on fire. A blush immediately bloomed on my cheeks. Bad Alex, bad!

"I guess I'll see you around." He said, and disappeared around the corner. "Are you okay?" Aria and Spencer rushed over to me.

"Yeah. He didn't hurt me, so I guess it's alright." I shrug it off.

We all glance at each other uneasily. "Why is he back?" I asked finally.

"He's Jenna's personal chauffeur now." Spencer said icily.

"So he goes here now?" I ask.

Hannah shrugged. "Maybe she needs help sending radioactive e-mails." She said as she and Emily walk over.

"Yeah, or maybe sending a few of his own." Spencer said.

I stared at her. She couldn't possibly think _Toby_ was behind all this. "Hannah!" We all look and see Wilden, walking toward us. Shit, shit, shit!

"Cops on campus too?" Emily asked right before he reached us.

"I just spoke with your principal; asked if we could have a chat." He continued.

"No, I have to get to class." Hannah said nervously.

"Don't worry, you've been excused." Wilden smirked at her. She sent us a nervous look before following after him.

"Why just her, why not all of us?" Aria asked, clutching her books to her chest nervously.

"He probably thinks she's the easiest to crack." Emily offered.

"She is." Spencer hissed.

"Whisper, whisper, whisper. Almost feels like Allison's still here." Jenna breezes past us.

Ooh, not well. Not well at all.

* * *

An hour later, we were all waiting by Hannah's locker. "She's not answering her phone. I'm gonna post it on her wall." Aria said, tapping on her phone.

"If she's not answering her phone, what makes you think she's gonna answer her Facebook?" I question.

I was worried about Hannah. What if Wilden cracked her? What if she told him everything? What if-

"We've been trying to get a hold of you! What happened in there?" My twin's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Nothing. Just the same old stupid questions." Hannah said.

"You were in there for an hour, Hannah. What else did he ask?" Spencer demanded.

"_Nothing_. He just took a couple calls, and I just sat there."

"What, is he gonna question us alone now?" Aria asked.

"Who knows? Let's do this at lunch, okay? I have to hit the ladies' before I head to class." She flashed us a grin and strutted away.

"Is she being weird?" Spencer asked.

"She's being weird." Emily and I said at the same time. "I'll see you guys at lunch." Em walked off.

I hugged my sister and walked off with Spencer. "What were they really talking about?" I ask her.

She shrugged. "I don't know. But I do know that whatever it was, it creeped her out."

* * *

After school, Emily texts me to help her with her swimming. I texted back, saying that I would be there, telling Aria that I would meet her and Mom later.

"So, what you just swim up and down the pool?" I ask.

Emily shakes her head. "No. It's much more than that. You have to learn how the water moves, you have to train, and you have to-"

"Oh, please. I bet I could swim here right now." I say, taking off my shoes.

"No. You need to-"

"Too late." I say, jumping in the pool. I tried to swim across the pool, but I had to come up for air. "See!" I called back to her. "What's so hard about this?"

Emily shakes her head. "Nothing. But you'll understand once you compete in a meet." She says, getting out.

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes at her playfully.

I try to get out too, but lose my balance and fall back into the pool. I open my mouth to gasp, and water immediately fills my lungs. _Panic!_ I think. I began flailing around until I felt someone lift me out of the water.

I opened my eyes to see Toby there, staring at me. "What…what are you doing here?" I ask, sitting up.

"I was walking by and saw you so…" He trailed off.

"I'm fine now." I snapped, standing up. I didn't know what, but something about him gave me the chills.

"I just saved your life. You could at least thank me." Toby snapped back.

"Thank you! Happy now?"

He was about to reply but Emily's scream interrupted him. We glanced at each other before racing into the locker rooms. Ben was there, forcing himself on my friend. Toby immediately sprang into action, pushing him off of her. I held Emily in my arms.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded, eyes glued to the fight. "That's enough! Toby, stop!" She cried.

"Is he the reason you're acting like this?" Ben demanded, struggling against Toby's hold.

"No! Get over yourself, okay?"

"Get over myself?"

"It's done! We're over!" She said, and walked out. I looked at Toby. "Thank you." I finally said. He nods at me and I walk out.

* * *

After stopping back home to change clothes, I walked into where my mom told me to meet them. I see Meredith, talking to Aria. She brushes past me, bumping my shoulder as she did. I grabbed her arm. "Look. I don't know what game you're playing, but you need to stop, right now."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Really? I saw the way you looked at my dad yesterday, and if I find out you two are still sleeping around there will be serious issues...for _you_." I glared at her and walked inside.

"What was that about?" Aria asked me. I stared at her. "Just a friendly chat. Now, where's Mom?"

* * *

"But mom!" I whined, following her around as I begged. "It'll only be for a few minutes! We'll go, have a drink-" Mom gave me a look. "Of water, and then leave!"

"No, Alex. I know what kids your age do at parties. You drink and have sex. But I'm not letting my children come home pregnant with some random boy's kid!" She argued.

I scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Isn't that how you and Dad had us?" I asked.

"Yes, that's how I got pregnant with Aria." She said, crossing her arms over her chest. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"And me." I stated, and she sent me a confused look. Then her face lit up with realization and something glinted in her eyes.

"Of course, I meant you too. And you're not going to this party, whether you like it or not."

I smirked and turned to head up to my room.

"Whatever, Mother dear."

She can't say no to Aria.

**A/N: Edited, added the last part.**


	10. Safe and Sound

**Sorry for the long update, but I do have a life so…enjoy! I don't own PLL.**

**To Kill a Mocking Girl**

_I can lift you up, I can show you what you wanna see  
_

_Take you where you wanna be_

_You could be my luck_

_Even if the sky is fallin' down, I know that we'll be safe and sound_

_We're safe and sound_

_I could fill your cup, you know my river won't evaporate_

_This world we still appreciate_

_You could be my luck_

_Even if a hurricane is 'round_

_I know that we'll be safe and sound_

**-Capitol Cities, Safe and Sound**

* * *

I was right. When _Aria _asked Mom about going to the party, she agreed- but only a "few minutes".

Yeah, right.

When Aria and I arrived at the party it was in full swing. I snickered when I saw Hannah staring at that Sean kid in annoyance.

"Hey." Spencer and Emily walk up. I see Ben walk past, sending Emily a look that I guess was supposed to be sexy.

"_Oh my God_. What happened to his face?" Aria asked in horror.

Emily explained to Spencer and Aria about the Toby incident, and I told them about how Toby had stopped me from drowning. "What was Toby even doing in the girl's locker room?" My twin asked.

"Why are you shocked? Toby is a pervert- we caught him peeping through the window, watching us undressed." Spencer said.

"He saved my life. And besides, Allison's the one who saw him. We never did." I jump to his defense. I figured I owed him that much.

"What's wrong?" Hannah walks over.

"Toby Cavanaugh got into a fight with Ben over Emily." Aria explains. I frown and cross my arms over my chest. What about the part where he saved my life?

"It wasn't over me. He just…saved me." Emily said, noticing my distress.

"From what, himself?" Spencer asked. I shot her a look.

"Eww." Hannah comments.

"Well if we hadn't asked you about Ben would you have told us about this?" My twin demanded.

Emily and I didn't answer.

"Toby isn't a good guy, Alex. He could be dangerous." Spencer said.

"If he's so dangerous, why'd he take the fall for us?" I asked, and that shut her up.

"Is this another secret, something you're not telling us about?" Aria asked, but Spencer remained silent.

"Guys, can we talk about this somewhere else? Where we're alone?" Hannah pleaded.

Aria shook her head. "I don't even know where alone is anymore."

"Yeah, uh, let's talk about this tomorrow. Are we still meeting at the shed?" She asked. I followed her gaze to see Sean, walking outside, a huge grin on his face. I snickered and nudged her arm.

"Get some," I wiggled my eyebrows at her, causing her to giggle and wink before making her way over there.

Ah, kids grow up so fast!

"Yeah, sure why not?" My twin said sarcastically. She shouldered her bag and grabbed my arm.

"Where are you two going?" Emily asked.

"To the gallery; we promised our mom."

I bit my lip. I _really_ didn't want to go.

"Actually, I'm not going." I say.

"Alex! You promised." She complained.

"No, you promised. I was forced to stay for a "few minutes" because I'm your twin." I point out.

She sighs. "Fine, but you owe me, big time." Aria hugs me. "Be careful." With that, she was gone.

* * *

Later on at the party, I was just walking around out of boredom. And then I saw him. Toby stood there, brooding in a corner. "Hey." I say. He looks up, surprised, and then nodded.

"Hey."

"What are you doing here? I thought this wasn't you're scene." I say, causing him to shake his head.

"My parents thought it would be great for me, to go to a normal high school party."

I frowned. "They thought it would be good for you? I had to literally beg my mom to let me come here, and I was only supposed to stay for a few minutes."

Toby nodded. Wow, this was awkward.

"Thank you." I say quietly.

"For what?"

"Saving me, and Emily."

He smiles at me. "You already said that." He reminded me.

"Well, I said it sarcastically last time. Huge difference."

Then his smile suddenly changed into a smirk. "I'm starting to think you just want to talk to me."

I rolled my eyes. "In your dreams, Cavanaugh."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Then why are you blushing?"

I frown. "I am not blushing…it's just really hot in here."

Toby rolled his eyes at me. "Yeah, I'm sure it is."

I bit my lip and stared at his eyes. Gosh, those eyes were so pretty! They were like swirls of blue, yet somehow grey at the same time.

Hypnotizing.

"Alex?"

I whirled around to see Spencer, glaring at Toby.

She grabbed my arm and dragged me away. "What the hell were you thinking?" She hissed. I sighed.

"I wasn't." I admitted. "But he didn't hurt me."

"That's not the point, Alex! You weren't even supposed to talk to him!"

I nodded. "I know. But…I did."

Spencer sighed and nodded. "I'm sorry. He just creeps me out."

"I know, he creeps everyone out. But that doesn't mean that he's 'A' or a killer. Like Sirius from _'Harry Potter'_."

My friend rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just be careful, OK?"

"Of course." I give her a hug and walk outside.

* * *

"Need a ride?" I turn to see Toby.

OK, he may not be a killer, but he was still a bit scary. And I wouldn't want to get in a car with him…alone.

Toby seemed to sense my hesitation because he said, "Look, you have two options here. Either you let me take you home, or you sit here and freeze to death."

"I think I'll take my chances with the whole 'freezing to death thing'." I smiled at him. Toby rolled his eyes before walking towards me.

"What are you- HEY, PUT ME DOWN!" I banged my fists on his back as he threw me over his shoulder.

"No, you're being stubborn, and it's annoying. I'm taking you home."

I huffed, seeing as I really didn't have any other options. "You'd better not fart."

* * *

The ride was silent. Neither of us had nothing to say. Once he stopped in front of my house, I turned to him.

"Thank you." I said.

"Anytime."

"Yeah, sure, I'll just ask you to pick me up over your shoulder and throw me in your car." I glared at him, and he laughed.

The bastard laughed!

"Why'd you come back?" I ask him.

"I don't know. I just did. Jenna needed someone to help her around- she specifically requested me." He shrugs. "Why'd you come back?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. We just thought...it'd be a great time to start over. We thought we could get a clean slate."

"But you didn't?"

"No. We didn't."

I hesitate for a moment before kissing his cheek. "Goodnight, Toby." I whispered and climbed out of the car.

**A/N: Edited, added parts.**


	11. Dog Days Are Over

**I do not own PLL.**

**Can You Hear Me Now?**

_Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father  
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers  
Leave all your love and your longing behind  
You can't carry it with you if you want to survive  
The dog days are over  
The dog days are done  
Can you hear the horses?  
'Cause here they come_

**-Florence + the Machine, Dog Days Are Over**

* * *

The very next morning, Aria, Spencer, Emily and I were taking a stroll through the park. Hannah had told us about how she wrecked Sean's car after he didn't sleep with her, and I struggled not to laugh as we questioned her.

"How bad did your mom bust you over wrecking Sean's car?" Emily asked, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. It was one of those windy-sunny days.

"I did not _wreck_ it… I damaged it. And actually, everyone's being really mature about it."

"Oh." Aria commented.

Hannah gave her a look. "There is no, 'oh', were just being adults about it."

"OK, so the town is going to put in a new bench, and we'll plant the flowerbeds and there's going to be a pathway of art tiles." Aria said as we stopped in front of a bench.

"Art tiles?" I ask, sitting down.

"Messages, pictures, memories of Allison." Em elaborates.

"Aww, like little headstones."

"Hannah!"

"What?"

"Alright, we each do a tile." Emily said.

"OK, I have kept this since the day we found it in the woods and I don't want the responsibility anymore." Hannah says, digging in her bag and handing me a bracelet.

"I don't want it!" I protested, giving it back to her. She swung it around, and no one took it. Finally, Spencer snatched it from her hand.

"Look at us! A bunch of babies."

We didn't respond. "There is nothing 'A' can say or do to make us get into trouble without making trouble for herself."

Where did she get the 'her' from?

"Are you sure it's a 'her'?" Hannah asked.

"I think it's a 'her'. But it doesn't make a difference." Spencer mumbled, reaching in her bag to pull out her laptop.

"What are you doing?" Emily asked wearily as she began typing furiously.

"I'm going to block all messages from people I don't know. IMs, texts, emails, everything. Screw 'A'."

"There. Who's next?"

Emily grabs the laptop from her. And that's when I saw Ezra riding his bike. He looked so…hot.

"I spy with my little eyes something that begins with 'Ez'." I said, giving Aria a little wink.

"Hey, Mr. Fitz!" Hannah said.

"Looking' good, Mr. Fitz!" Spencer called.

"Hey, Ezra!" I waved frantically.

Aria looked away uncomfortably and grabbed the laptop from Emily. "My turn."

"You know, there are teachers you do want to see on a bike and teacher's you don't." I comment.

"I do not want to see Mr. Golory on a bike." Hannah comments.

"I do not want to see Mr. Golory in the motion of moving." Emily states and we all snicker. "Ah, Mr. Fitz." Hannah sighed in contentment.

"Alex? Your turn." Aria shoves the laptop in my face.

"You talk to Ben?" Spencer asked. Emily shrugged. "Nothing to talk about."

This was true. Why would you want to talk to a would-be rapist? In fact, he would have gone through with it if it hadn't been for Toby.

Toby…Toby. Was it wrong of me to say that he looked hot when he was fighting off Ben? I think not.

I gave Hannah the laptop. "I wish we had a drum-roll for this." She sighs in contentment.

"Here it goes," She pressed the button. "We are officially 'A' proof." She says, and I smile. "All those little messages, sending through the air, all around us."

"Yep. And none of them from 'A'." My twin smiles happily.

"This feels like a good thing." Emily says.

"It _is_ a good thing." Hannah corrects her.

"Outta mind, outta sight."

There was an awkward pause for a minute. Just then, a flyer flew in front of us, causing me to bend over and pick it up. It was one of those missing posters for Allison.

**Ding dong, the bitch is dead- A**

So much for no 'A'.

**A/N: Edited.**


	12. Use Somebody

**HAPPY SUPERBOWL! GO 49'rs. I do not own PLL.**

**Can You Hear Me Now?**

_I've been roaming around  
_

_Always lookin' down at all I see_

_Painted faces fill the places I can't reach_

_You know that I can use somebody_

_Someone like you, and all you know, and how you speak_

_Countless lovers under cover of the street_

_You know that I could use somebody_

_You know that I could use somebody_

_Someone like you_

**-Kings of Leon, Use Somebody**

* * *

At school, Hannah, Spencer, Aria and I were in the cafeteria, talking. "I love your jacket!" Hannah exclaimed, and I beam at her.

"Really? Aria said it looked horrible on me."

"Oh, I like it…just not on you." I frown and looked down. It didn't look that bad, did it? I turned to Spencer.

"Horrible." Was all she said.

"You're all a bunch of bitches, you know that?"

"Spence, why didn't you're folks take you up to New York with your sister?" Hannah asked. "I mean, you deserve some retail therapy too."

"Not as much as Melissa." She responded with a shrug.

"Ooh, nice scarf, Em." Aria comments when she walks up with this bright red scarf on.

"Thanks."

"Is it new?"

"No."

"Wait, you like her scarf, but you can't like your own twin's jacket?" I demand. What kind of blasphemy was this?

"We like that jacket, Alex. Just not on you." Spencer reminded me.

Hannah's phone rings. After she stares at it, she gives us a look.

"Go ahead, answer it! We know who it can't be from." My twin urges. She still didn't answer.

"Hannah," Emily says as it kept ringing.

"It's…my dad." She said in shock. My eyebrows rose. Her dad?

"Hey, dad!" She walks away.

"Has she even talked to her dad since he walked out on them?" I question.

"I don't know." Spencer says. "Hannah and her father have one of those 'don't ask, don't tell' situations."

Aria nodded. "Well, we shouldn't stare." She steers us into the other direction. Her phone chirps, as well.

"Marcus Pope just showed up on my loop." Aria says, and I laugh.

"You added him as a favorite?"

"Moment of weakness."

"Just like Alex buying that jacket?" Emily joked. I rolled my eyes.

I am going to get them all back one day!

We were about to keep walking when Toby bumped into me. "Sorry." He said, giving me a look. I smiled at him.

"My fault."

"What if we just bumped into 'A'?" My twin asked, and I rolled my eyes.

"He's not 'A'." I say.

"And besides, it doesn't matter. We're done with 'A'." Spencer says.

"Right, yeah. But I'm still staying out of Toby's way." She said. "And Jenna's."

"I guess that's the safest thing to do." Emily agrees. I turn back around to find Toby there, watching us.

"He's making a special trip out to see me." Hannah told us about her phone call with her dad. "That's…great, Hannah." I sent her a small smile.

"What?"

Emily bit her lip. "It's just…do you think he's out here because of the thing with Sean's car?" She asked.

"No! He's not. Look, I asked. Absolutely not. And besides, even if he was, he's still coming out to see me."

"Spencer!" Mr. Sholdry walked up to us. "I was going to tell you in class, but here you are. Remarkable job on the Russian History essay." He said a bright smile on his face.

"Oh, thanks." Spencer says.

"Very loose interpretation." He continues.

"It's not a new idea." She says, looking down.

"I've submitted it for Golden Orchard."

Spencer froze. "Wait, you what?" She spluttered out.

"There's an honorarium. Do you know that winning a competition like that looks great on your applications?" He asked, smiling even wider, if that's possible.

"Wait, can you-"

"We'll discuss the details after class." He waves her off and walks away.

"What's the Golden Orchard?" Hannah asked with a huge smile on her face.

"It's an academic competition for history." Spencer explains.

"More of Spencer's territory." I smile at her. I was happy for my friend. The bell rung and we all walked off to our classes.

Before going to class, I stopped by my locker to put up my jacket. I wasn't going to wear it if people were going to tell me about how horrible it looked on me.

I walked into chemistry and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Toby. "Hi."

"Hi."

Awkward silence.

"Are you…going to be in this lab?" I finally asked.

"Starting today." He held up a paper.

"Cool." I say, and began walking to my seat.

"You were wearing a jacket this morning." He commented. I nod.

"Yeah. I took it off." I said.

"It looked good on you." He smiled at me, and then walked up to the teacher.

I sighed in relief. At least someone liked it. "Go ahead and sit next to Alex."

Okay, was the universe out to get me today or what? Sure, he gave me a ride home (against my will, I might add), but that didn't mean I was going to be alright with him sitting next to me for the rest of the year.

"So, I guess we're lab partners. You okay with that?" He asked me.

"Are you going to throw me over your shoulder again?" I asked.

Toby laughed. "It depends on if you let me be my lab partner…" He trailed off.

"Sure." I sent him a warm smile and opened my bookmarked page.

**Thought you could get rid of me that easily? Think again, Alex. Toby's not going to be your only problem- A**

I quickly slammed the book closed, causing everyone to turn and look at me. "Are you okay?" Toby asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, totally…there was just a bug in my book. I killed it!" I chuckled nervously. He sent me a weird look but turned around anyway.

What. The. Fuck.

**Love it? Hate it? REVIEW!**


	13. Cosmic Love

**I do not own PLL**

**Can You Hear Me Now?**

_I took the stars from my eyes  
_

_And then I made a map_

_And knew that somehow, I could find my way back_

_But then I heard your heart beating_

_You were in the darkness too_

_So I stayed here in the darkness with you_

**-Florence + the Machine, Cosmic Love**

* * *

After school that day, I couldn't stop thinking about the note in my Chemistry book. How did 'A' get in my locker? Did they have a key? And how did they know Toby was going to be my lab partner?

I really hate this.

With a sigh, I flop on my bed and stare at my ceiling. A good nap is what I needed.

_'The stars, the moon_

_They have all been blown out_

_You've left me in the dark_

_No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight_

_In the shadow of your heart'_

I groan in annoyance as my phone begins ringing. "What?" I snap.

"Who peed in your Cheerios?" Spencer asked. I sighed and sat up on my bed.

"I'm sorry. I was trying to get some sleep. But I see that's impossible now. I'm going to have bags the size of golf balls under my eyes." I mumble, and Spencer sighs.

"I'm sorry. I just need to talk to you…about something."

I frown. Every time someone says 'I need to talk to you about something', it's usually bad news. "What is it?"

"You know how Mr. Sholdry was talking to me earlier about the Golden Orchard?" She asked. I nodded. "Alex?" She asked.

I mentally slapped myself when I remembered that she couldn't see me through the phone. "I'm here." I respond.

"Okay, well…the essay isn't mine." She blurts out, and I frown.

"What do you mean? Of course it's yours."

Spencer sighs over the phone. "Well, it's not mine. I just said it was."

I gasped, and said: "Spencer Hastings plagiarized? Who would've thought?" I laughed and took out my sketchbook.

"It's not funny, Alex! And I didn't plagiarize…I just used Melissa's." She admitted softly. "And now, I have to read my essay in front of whole family, Melissa included! I've already stolen her fiancée, but this? She'll never be able to look at me, let alone talk!" Spencer groaned.

While she was busy with her rant, I was drawing randomly. "Why don't you just bail?"

"Don't you think I would if I could, Alex?" She snapped, and I sighed.

"Well-"

I was cut off by a knocking at my door. Aria pokes her head through.

"Look, Spence I'll call you later." I hang up and glare at my twin. "Why did you knock and then come in?" I demand, crossing my arms over my chest.

"What?"

"You just don't knock and come in, Aria. You have to knock and wait for someone to say 'Come in!' If you don't, what's the point of knocking?" I ask.

She stares at me like _I'm_ the crazy one. "Anyway, I'm heading to Ezra's house-"

"WHAT?!" I shriek, running over to her. "You are going to his house?! Do you know how good this is? Oh, when he's going to the bathroom after you two have sex, snoop around his room. I wonder if he has any dirty porn collections-"

"Alex! Please! I'm not going over to his house to have sex with him. We're just having dinner." She mumbled, but she blushed anyway.

I raised an eyebrow. "Just dinner" my ass.

"That is the worse lie I think I've ever heard in my life. You two are going to be going at it like rabbits." I say, and she blushes even brighter.

"Shut up, Alex! And we're not having sex!" She yelled. Big mistake.

"Who's not having sex?" Mom appears in the doorway. Shit, shit, shit!

"I-uh-we-um-" Aria stumbles.

Think of a lie…think of a lie… "We were just practicing our safe sex skit for school." I say, giving her a smile. Smooth, Alex. I scratched my eyebrow, something that usually happened when I was lying.

"I didn't know you guys were on the sex unit yet."

Crap.

"Well, we literally just started. Today. At school." Aria says, and I cross my fingers.

She raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

"I was just stopping by to tell you that your dad and I are having a date night. Maybe we can work out whatever's going on."

I blanch. They're trying to work things out? No offense, but I don't think that what dad did can be fixable…like ever. "Oh, that's…great. You two have fun." I smile warmly at her.

"Try not to get into any trouble, alright?" Mom says. We both nod.

She gave us one final look before walking out. I shut my door and turn to her. "Alright, if you two don't have sex tonight, I'll give you 20 bucks. But if you do…then you have to clean up after Mike in the bathroom."

Aria shudders. Mike has the worst aim in the world; the whole bathroom could be covered in his urine after he uses it. Yuck.

"I don't want 20 bucks. If I win, you have to clean up after him, too.

I sigh, considering this. But there really wasn't much to consider. I knew I was going to win the bet; they're sexual tension was obvious. They're going to be all alone…in his house, or apartment or whatever, wondering what to do…

"Deal." I smirk smugly and shake her hand.

* * *

The next day at school, I was still pissed that they didn't get down and dirty. In fact, they got into an argument. About _our parents_. I guess Mike woke up in the middle of the night and decided to use it, because this morning there was piss everywhere.

We were all currently talking to Hannah about her dad's visit. "It was great. Incredible really." She smiled to big I thought her face was going to crack.

"Where did your dad take you?" Emily asked.

"Jolly Rodgers."

We all chuckle at that. "The lame amusement park?" I laugh.

"Okay, it was not lame. We didn't get in the teacups; we just walked around and talked. And I told him about what was going on."

Emily, Spencer, Aria and I exchanged a glance. She told him?

"_Some_ of what was going on." She quickly elaborated when she saw our expressions. "He listened. He wants to take me to a real dinner today; he said he has something to tell me."

Ooh, a surprise. I wonder what it is.

"I think he wants to spend more time with me. Maybe… summer's in Maryland." She said that dreamy eyed expression still on her face.

"Seriously?" Emily asked.

"Would you go?" Aria asked.

"Well, yeah. I wouldn't move away forever." Hannah shrugged.

I pouted. "But I'll miss my Hannah Bear." I said, and gave her puppy-dog eyes.

"I would like to see my dad more." She said, giving me a pleading look.

"Wow. Good for you." Spencer encouraged.

The bell rings, sending us to our seats. "I'm wondering; is anybody bothered by Carouses **(I do **_**not**_** know how to spell that…)** apotheosis at the end of the novel?" Ezra asked.

After that, Spencer and Aria were talking to Ezra, giving their opinion. Some kid from the back was trying to defend my twin, but Ezra was being a huge dick about it. I see why they didn't have sex last night.

_What's wrong with Ezra?_ I texted to Aria.

She replies: _I don't know._

After class, I walked up to her. "What did you say to him?" I demand. "I felt so bad for the poor boy, and he got attacked because you pissed Ezra off last night."

Aria sighed. "He was giving me advice yesterday, and told me that I wasn't mature enough to be worried about Mom and Dad. Can you believe him?" She huffs and slams her locker closed.

Maybe I shouldn't have said anything about Fitz.

I walked over to my own locker and heard three jocks laughing. I frowned and followed their gaze to Toby, who was opening his locker. When he did, a bunch of white glob came out. Disgusting.

I felt so bad for him…he looked so helpless. With a sigh, I walk over and attempt to help him wipe the stuff off of his books. "You don't have to-"

"Yes, I do. Those guys are jerks, and I'm not going to let them do this to you." I say, scrubbing at his History book vigorously.

"Thank you." He said. I smiled at him.

"You're welcome."

* * *

Later that night, me and Spencer were hanging out at her house when we heard a crash downstairs. We both glanced at each other. "What the hell was that?" I whispered.

"I don't know."

Spencer got up and began walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" I hissed.

"To see what that was!"

I shook my head and grabbed her arm. "Don't you remember in the scary movies the girl who goes to investigate is the girl who usually dies?" I say, and she bit her lip.

"I'm not going to let somebody rob the place! And besides, I'll be right back."

She walks out of the room. Dammit Spencer! You're going to get me killed. With a silent huff, I follow her downstairs.

As we slowly survey the kitchen, I grab a knife from the counter top and walk towards the back door.

"Where the hell are you?" A British accent rang through the house. Wren was stumbling through the door, carrying a plant. He spun around and saw us there.

"Oh. I picked this for you. From the garden." He held the plant out to Spencer.

"Wren, what the hell are you doing here?" She asked slowly.

"I've come here to set things right." He smiled.

I sighed. "You're drunk." I set the knife on the table.

"I came to the house of Hastings." He said, and I shook my head.

"We thought you were an axe murderer or something!" I exclaim, and he said: "I tried calling, but you're blocking my number."

I turned to glare at Spencer. "Why don't you have his number saved? I almost wet my pants!" I smack her arm.

"No, I wasn't blocking you, I was just- wait, did you break through the back door?!" She asked.

"I had difficulty locating the front of the house." Wren slurred.

I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. The whole situation was pretty funny.

"Wren, go! Now!" Spencer ordered.

"I thought of nothing but you after you visited me." He said, sitting in one of the chairs. "I've been a coward. But that ends tonight. Summon your father."

I giggled. I liked this guy. Spencer laughed, too. "I'm not summoning my father. My parents are in New York, with Melissa."

He said something I couldn't make out, and then he tripped ad dropped the plant, dirt and glass flying everywhere. Shaking my head, I said: "You are hilarious."

"I'm sorry about the mess." Wren said later, after we sobered him up with coffee.

"I'll clean that up." Spencer responded.

"I'm not talking about the plant."

With my 'superpowers', I knew they were about to have an awkward conversation, so walked into another room.

_'The stars, the moon,_

_They have all been blown out_

_You've left me in the dark_

_No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight_

_In the shadow of your heart'_

I answered my phone without looking to see who was calling. "Hello?"

"Alex? It's me- Toby."

My jaw dropped, and I pulled the phone away from my ear to look at the name. It read: _The Hottest Guy I've Ever Seen in My Life._

"When did you put your number in my phone, Mr. The Hottest Guy I've Ever Seen in My Life?" I asked sarcastically.

He chuckled. "Well…when I threw you over my shoulder, I kind of took your phone-"

"You went through my phone? Toby, what the hell!" I exclaimed.

"Look Alex, I just wanted to thank you for helping me out earlier, with my locker and all. It was really…um, nice."

"You don't have to thank me." I rolled my eyes. "It's just what good people do." I said in a 'duh' tone.

"I know you don't want me as your lab partner."

I open my mouth, closed it. "What? I totally want you…as my lab partner." I lied, probably unconvincingly. I scratched my eyebrow.

"No, you don't. And I completely understand. I just don't want you to feel uncomfortable around me."

"I don't feel that uncomfortable around you. Just a little creeped out, you know? You kind of scare me." I admitted. "And I think you need a haircut." I add.

"I will take that into consideration. And Alex?"

"Yes?"

"Be careful."

And then he hung up. Be careful about what? He was so annoying.

* * *

After we drove Wren home, Hannah appeared. I literally ran to her car.

"What happened?" She asked. I shook my head.

"It's a long story." I said. But I explain it to her anyway. We watch as they began to kiss.

"Wait, they're together now?"

"I don't know." I shook my head. "But if they have babies, I hope they have his accent." I said, causing Hannah to laugh.

"And from our request line this song is for Hannah from her best friend, 'A'!" The radio announcer...announced.

The song "I Don't Need You Anymore" began playing, and I covered my mouth with my hands. What the hell?

Spencer climbs into the car, breathless from her kissing affair. "Whatever you're about to say, don't." She warns.

Hannah looked like she was about to throw up. "They are so out of our league." Was all she said.

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

**A/N: Edited**


	14. Going Nowhere

_A/N: OK, I've recently decided that Alex will be played by Lily Collins, but a shorter version. I know that she doesn't look like Lucy Hale; I did it on purpose ;) _

_Anywho, when you're reading this story just imagine Alex as Lily Collins, BUT SHORT! K? K._

_ON WITH THE STORY!_

**I do not own PLL.**

**Reality Bites Me**

_How am I supposed to look at you like that?_

_When all you ever do is really hold me back?_

_No more, for sure_

_It's you whose out the door_

_I think I should press delete_

_And clear my history_

_I got my ambitions, yes I dream so big_

_While I'm ticking boxes you'll be counting sheep_

_So you, do you, and I'll be me_

_Time for me to move on_

_Nothing left to see_

**-Little Mix, Going Nowhere**

* * *

A few days later, we were all sitting at Spencer's house, talking about the letter 'A' sent to Mom. It was telling her about Meredith, and how Aria and I knew all about it. I knew I shouldn't have covered for dad. Now we're caught in the crossfire…and Mom may never speak to us again.

'A' sucks.

We also recently unblocked all unknown numbers…not such a good idea now, considering the fact that 'A' broke into Spencer's house and wrote on her mirror.

Did I mention that 'A' sucks? I did? Well, I'll say it again.

'A' sucks.

"'A' sent this letter to our Mom." Aria said softly.

Emily shook her head. "It's your dad's mistake, totally."

"But it's our fault." I argue, because it was. If we had just told Mom about it, none of this would be happening. For once, Allison was right.

"No. You did not hook up with her and then ask your kids to cover for you." Spencer reminded us, bringing out a bowl of grapes. I shook my head.

"Ali said that we should have told our mom right after it happened."

"Ali? She knew?" Emily asked, and Hannah and Spencer looked at us, waiting for an answer.

"Yeah, she was with us."

"So, Alison saw this Meredith person?" Spencer asked.

"Meredith? Her name is Meredith? That's not even a cute girl name; it sounds like a girl with big pours and mousy roots." Hannah said, and I snicker. It _was_ kind of a stupid name.

"Hannah, I think it's a little too soon to jump." Spencer reminded her.

"I'm sorry! But if you're gonna cheat you might as well do it with someone who deep conditions their hair occasionally." She replies.

Bitch.

"Put something in your mouth besides your foot." She sets a plate of bagels in front of Hannah.

"I'm sorry. But I know what this feels like after my dad left. Laughing sometimes helped. So does crying."

Aria walked over to the table. "But my dad hasn't left guys. He's…I mean, this happened over a year ago." She said, and I walked to stand next to Spencer. I noticed everyone looking down during all of this.

"Wait, you think he's gonna leave?" I asked, panicked.

"Look, whatever happens, where here for you." Emily says.

OMG, they totally thought he was going to leave! The nerve of these…bitches!

Awkward silence. There seems to be a lot of those nowadays.

"Thank you guys for staying here." Spencer finally says. I nodded. After the whole mirror thing, I'd be terrified, too.

"When are your parents getting back?"

"This afternoon."

"Aren't you gonna clean out the mirror before they get here?" My twin asked.

Spencer looked at us silently, as if asking one of us to come with her.

"Do you want me to some with?" Emily asked finally. Spencer nodded.

I was gonna say that! "I'm coming too!" I protest.

"We should all go." Aria says.

"You know, it doesn't take _five_ of us to clean the mirrors." Hannah said. "So why don't you four just go upstairs and clean the mirrors and I'll just stay down here."

The bitch was trying to get out of work!

"Fine, you'll stay down here. Alone." I say and turn to head upstairs. "Don't forget to lock the door!" Spencer called.

Hannah sighed and followed us upstairs. "You spray, I'll wipe." She said. Her phone begins to ring. "Well, the creeper's back. We should have never unblocked our phones."

So true.

**Ever wonder what's going on when your back is turned? -A**

Well, yeah. All the time.

"Open the attachment!" Emily urges. It was the video of us last night, looking at the freaking note written in lipstick on her mirror.

"Was that taken from inside your closet?!" I panicked. What. The. Hell. Now I didn't even want to clean the mirrors.

'A' was watching us.

And then you know what they did? The dumbasses decide to go upstairs, knowing that someone might still be there!

"Spencer, what the hell did I tell you yesterday about scary movies? Never go investigate!"

They ignored me and walked to her room anyway. Am I invisible? I mushed Hannah in the head. "What the hell, Alex?" She hissed and turned to glare at me.

Nope. Not invisible.

We walked to her room and opened the closet door. We all shrieked in fear as something fell down.

"Guys, check it out." My twin picks up…lipstick? She rubs some on her hand.

"That's the wrong place, Aria." I remind her. She rolls her eyes and walks over to the mirror and held up her hand.

The color was the same. We all just stare at each other for a while.

"So…anyone else still hungry?" I asked, earning four incredulous stares in return.

At home, Aria and I were getting ready for school, doing our eyeliner, when Mike walked in. He stood there for a minute, just watching us do our makeup.

Creeper.

"How do you not poke your eye out?" He asked, and Aria shrugged.

"How do you pee all over the floor when you use the bathroom?" I retorted, and he frowned.

"I do not!" Mike protested. I scoffed.

"Mike, are you kidding me? Anyone you know could tell you that your penis is not physically capable of peeing in the toilet."

"OK, Mike, did you need something?" Aria interrupted our conversation.

"Yeah, what's up?" I ask.

"Uh…are Mom and Dad acting _weird_ with each other?"

I snapped my head up. "No. Why would you think that?" I scratched my eyebrow. Dammit! If he noticed, he didn't say anything.

"I don't know. There's a vibe." He shrugged.

Damn you, vibe!

"Yeah, maybe. Don't worry about it." Aria says, grabbing her bag.

"What, you're only going to do one eye? The new Cyclops looks?" Mike asked.

I glared at him. "Get out."

My brother snickers and walks out.

I turned to Aria. "Great. Now there's a vibe." I huff. She sighs.

"Thanks to 'A'." She mumbled. I shook my head. We couldn't blame 'A' for this one.

"Thanks to Dad not being able to keep it in his pants."

We walked downstairs just in time to hear dad say: "Are they gonna be any less confused with us walking around like sulky roommates?"

Mom turns her head to us. Shit.

"Hey. Do you want some breakfast? There's…yogurt." She offers. I shook my head.

"We're good with a granola bar."

Dad clears his throat. "I'm gonna head to work. I have office hours. And good luck with that French test at school." He kisses our foreheads and walks out.

"We know something's up. Are you gonna tell him?" Aria asked.

"Yeah, when I can." She nods.

"Don't wait too long. I kept it from you for a year. I don't want to have to do that to him, too." I said.

Mom looks confused. "A year? You've known about this for a _year_?" She asked in disbelief.

Crap.

"Well, yeah. We thought- didn't Dad tell you that he told us not to tell?"

That sounded so confusing.

"We can miss first period if you want to talk." Aria said.

"No, it's okay. This is between me and your dad. Don't worry."

I only worried that she will kill him.

**A/N: Edited, added some parts to Mike and the beginning.**


	15. Everything Has Changed

**I do not own PLL.**

**Reality Bites Me**

_Come back and tell me why  
I'm feeling like I've missed you all this time, oh, oh, oh.  
And meet me there tonight  
And let me know that it's not all in my mind.  
_

_All I know is we said, "Hello."_  
_ So dust off your highest hopes_  
_ All I know is pouring rain and everything has changed_  
_ All I know is a new found grace_  
_ All my days I'll know your face_  
_ All I know since yesterday is everything has changed_

**-Taylor Swift ft. Ed Sheeran, Everything Has Changed**

* * *

Later at school, the gang and I were standing next to Spencer's locker, talking about the mirror incident. "I don't think a blind girl broke into my house. That would take a lot more than a talking GPS." Spencer said when Aria threw out Jenna's name.

"I didn't say that she was alone." My twin says. I roll my eyes.

"Can we not go to the Toby place?" I ask. I knew someone was gonna bring him up. I hated that he was a suspect just because he got was Jenna's...helper thingy. It sucked.

"Why not?" Aria demanded. "You guys think that her guard dog left behind his lipstick?"

I narrow my eyes at her. Twins are so annoying. "Do you wanna ask what your lab partner was doing last night? Maybe he took a break from sitting on his porch, pulling the head's off of squirrels." Spencer said.

"What about other people? Like, oh I don't know, Melissa?" I snapped, and she snapped her head around to glare at me.

She was about to retort when Mr. Sholdry boomed: "Spencer! Sorry girls, I didn't mean to interrupt, but I hope you're as proud as your friend as I am." He held up an envelope. "Congratulations. My instincts were right, and this makes it official."

Holy shit...she won the contest! Ha, now she's gonna get it. And I get to laugh at her!

HAHAHAH! Hear me laugh at you, Spencer! HAHAHA!

"What is that?" My twin asked.

"Oh. Just that essay contest." She shrugged it off.

"You won it? Aren't you at least going to open the envelope?" Emily asked.

"Yeah Spencer, show us what you got." I urge, smirking at her.

"Why should she? She wins an award just for waking up." Hannah smiles. Spence shifts uncomfortably just as the bell rang, sending me to class.

"Sodium boride." I pour a green liquid into a cup. I was currently in Chemistry class, doing lab experiments, which was great because I love hands on activities. I pick up a mixer and began stirring.

"Careful," Toby warns. "That glass beaker's made of…glass." He said.

I shot him a look. "Thanks for that helpful information. I thought the glass beaker was made of wood." I scoffed. "Maybe you should do it. I've had too much coffee and not enough sleep."

"What, big party on a Thursday night?" He teased, taking the mixer from me.

I shook my head. "No. I slept at a friend's, actually. What did you do last night?" I ask before I could stop myself. I may have defended him, but I was still just a tad bit curious.

"I was at the Grill, doing homework." He said, causing me to look at him disbelievingly.

"That's where you do homework?" I ask.

"Got to. Jenna listens to her readings loudly. It messes me up."

"Maybe she's going deaf as well as blind." I tease. Toby gives me a blank stare. "Right. Terrible joke. I'm horrible." I said, blushing beet red. How embarrassing. "But why the Grill? It's not exactly quiet, either."

"It is if you stay late enough. I close the place like every night."

I raise my eyebrows at him. What the hell does he do when he finishes his homework?

"So, whose house did you stay at last night? That new girl?" He asked.

I frowned. "Maya? No! Why…why would you think that?" I ask. He shrugs.

"I don't know. I figured she was the newest member of your posse. Did you teach her the secret handshake yet?" He teased.

"She's more of Emily friend than the groups." I explain.

"Why's that?"

I shrugged. "She just likes different things, I guess. I've only met her once."

"Different is good. I like different. This town has too much of the same." Toby says, looking at me directly now. I scoff.

"Are you implying that I'm not different?"

"I'm implying that you are different." He says, smiling at me.

"Get a haircut," I suddenly blurt out.

"Why?"

"Because you'd look better."

"You'd look better if you cut your hair, too." He says. I glanced at him.

"I already look good." I say confidently.

"I know."

Those two words made me blush, which made him smirk, which made me blush even more.

I demand a new lab partner!

After school that day, we were still working on the fucking experiment. If I'd known this was going to take so long, I would've skipped class!

Spencer called telling me about the essay problem. "Look, I have to take this. You don't mind, do you?" I asked him. Toby shook his head.

"Go ahead."

"…and then he gave me butter creams!" She finished. I paused during my pace.

"Butter cream?"

"Yeah, it's this candy that I loved when I was seven, but that's not the point! He wants to read it, and now I have to face a lifetime a punishment, not to mention this will probably go on my record!"

"It won't go on your record, Spencer." I rolled my eyes. "You never know. Maybe…maybe he won't recognize it."

"Oh, he'll recognize it. And he'll tell, and I'll have to face the wrath of Melissa." She muttered. She was smacking on something.

"Are you eating a butter cream?"

"I'm nervous!"

"Look, I'm sure you'll figure something out. I gotta go. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Bye."

I stuffed my phone in my back pocket and walked back over to Toby. "I'm sorry. I didn't think this would take so long."

"No, it's okay. I like being in school when nobody else is." He replied. I read out a few more names.

"Anything else we need to cover?"

"Maybe our noses. This stuff is rank." He said, and put it right under my nose.

What. The. Fuck.

"Get it away!" I push it, but some spilled over his book. "Dammit, I'm so sorry!"

"It's just water." He shrugged. As I turned to wipe the other side, I noticed amazing drawings on the back. "Did you draw this? It looks just like the cover from The Span; Circus of Vibe!" I exclaim.

"You know that band?" He asked in disbelief. I nod eagerly.

"Yeah. Em's cousin works at a bar on South Street. Her cousin snuck us into a show." I say.

"Have you heard any of their new stuff yet? It sounds-"

"Amazing." I cut him off.

"Well, if you're into them, there's this other band I should turn you onto. I'll bring you a CD." Toby says, causing me to smile at him.

"Thanks. I should go. Just because you like staying in school longer than necessary doesn't mean I have to."

I pick up my things and began to walk out. "Um, Alex?" Toby asked. I whirled around.

"Yes?"

"My notebook."

I frowned and looked down. Sure enough, his notebook was there. "Oh, sorry. Totally need more sleep." I say, handing it back to him.

"Or more coffee. Want to meet up at the Grill later?" He asked.

"Like a date?"

"Do you want it to be?"

"No."

"Then as a friend."

"Sure." I finally agree.

I walk out of there, grinning like an idiot.

**Love it? Hate it? REVIEW!**

**A/N: Edited.**


	16. Reality Bites Me Pt3

**Sorry for the extremely long update, but I had…issues. My on again off again boyfriend and I are currently off…so yeah. I actually wrote this chapter a few days ago, just too lazy to post it. So, here you go!**

**I do no own PLL**

**Reality Bites Me**

I was freaking out. Like, seriously. I was going on a date…with Toby! Okay, so maybe it wasn't a date. Maybe I was the one who said it shouldn't be a date.

Sue me.

I was still excited. After getting home, I listened to Aria blab about Ezra…again. "Look, Aria I love you and all…but I really have to get ready." I said, hopping off of her bed. "Get ready? For what?" She asked, following me to my room.

Shit!

Turning to my closet, I replied: "Oh, to meet Spencer, Hannah and Emily at the Grill."

_Scratch!_

"Oh really? Why wasn't I invited to tag along, then?" I could practically _feel_ her suspicion. I sighed. "Because…aren't you doing that thing with Ezra tonight, anyway? We didn't want to bother you."

_Scratch!_

"I know when you're lying, Alex. I can hear you scratching your eyebrows." She said, spinning me around. "Where are you _really_ going?" She demanded, crossing her arms over he chest. I shrugged.

"To the Grill…like I said."

"Yeah, but with whom?"

I blushed and looked down. Aria smiled at me. "Oh my God…you're going on a date!"

"No! Were going as friends…just friends." I turn back to my closet and began rifling through my clothes again. I don't know why, I just had to look perfect.

"Alex has a date! Alex has a date!" Aria sang, running in circles around me. "Yeah, and maybe after this, you and Ezra can double-date with us!" I say with false cheer. She stops dead in her tracks and glared at me.

"Now get out." I pointed to the door. With a pout, she spins on her heel and walks out, slamming my door behind her. She didn't have to be such a bitch about it.

A few hours later, I was ready. Completely ready. With a smile, I bounded downstairs. "Where are you going?" Dad asked as he stepped in front of me. Shit. "Dad, can we do this later? I have someone to meet." I tried to walk past him, but he stepped in front of me.

"Aria told me that you and she made a bet. For a week, you know. And…well, Mike just got out of the bathroom." He said, smiling at me. I frowned. Seriously? We're doing this now?

"Dad, come on. I really have to go. I'll clean it up when I get back, okay?" I try to step past him again. "No, Alex. A deals a deal, now go clean up his piss!"

Mom, who just happened to be walking past, stopped and gave us a weird look. "What's going on here?" She asked. Dammit all!

"_Mom_, Dad is trying to make me clean up Mike's pee, only I can't because I have to meet someone at the Grill!" I complain, throwing my head back with a pout. She nods. "Oh, yes. Aria told me about the deal you made."

I groaned. "Did she tell the kids in China, too?" I demand, crossing my arms over my chest. I hate that slut right now. "Look, I will clean it up for an extra two days, but I really gotta go."

But he shook his head. He wasn't going to back down from this. I sighed and trudged back upstairs to clean up after my disgusting brother.

* * *

Finally, I walk into the Grill and spot Toby immediately, reading a book, headphones in his ears. I grin and slid into the seat next to him. "Whatcha listening to?" I ask, putting one in my ear.

Surprisingly, it was pretty good. "The band I was telling you about. What took you so long?" He asked, grinning widely at me. "Well, I was cleaning piss." I admitted. He frowned slightly. "It's a long story."

* * *

When Toby left, I look around for something to do when I spot my friends. Shit. I didn't know they were here…did they see Toby? I swallowed my fears and walk over to the table. "Hey…guys." I say slowly. They all snap their heads in my direction.

"Oh, hey Alex. When did you get here?" Hannah beamed at me. I couldn't have been more relived. "Umm…a few minutes ago, actually." I scratched my eyebrow. If they noticed, they didn't say anything.

"Well, I should go. I have this tennis thing tomorrow and I have no idea what I'm gonna wear." Spencer stood up. "There…there may be this _boy_…"

"_Boy_?! Details!" I squealed, causing her to blush. "Well, there is none yet but I'll keep you guys posted." She smiled at us and walked off. Hannah, Emily, and I exchanged looks but said nothing.

"Alex?"

My head snapped up at the sound of my name. Some lady who worked at the bar was giving some CD to Spencer. "No." She gestured to me. "That's Alex."

The woman smiled and headed over to me, "Here. Someone left this at the bar for you." She handed the CD to me. It was a picture of me, smiling happily. I instantly knew who it was from.

Toby.

"Pretty." Hannah commented. "Who made that?"

I smiled and put it in my bag. "Just a friend from school." I quickly explained. Emily gave me a look, as if she knew that it was only the half truth. "Well, whoever it was must like you." Hannah wagged her eyebrows.

"No! We just…liked the same band." I said. Emily smirked. "Well, you must like whoever gave it to you back…"

I blushed madly. Me, like Toby? Eww…the thought repulsed me. Maybe if I kept thinking that, it would actually come true…

Standing up, I grabbed my bag. "I gotta go. Mike probably messed up the bathroom by now." I smiled at them before walking put. My phone vibrated, and with a quick look I saw that it as Aria.

"Twinnie!" I greet chipperly, knowing how much she hates that. _"Hey, Alex. You wont believe the night I've had…" _

She launches into this story about how she and Ezra were having fun at a bar…until his old buddy showed up. "Look, Aria, I think that he's right. I mean, you two…in public…it's risky." I said as I start my car.

"_I know. I just wish that we could forget about that…at least for a night." _She whispered, and I sighed. "Well, you could always go to the Grill and say that you're having a student- teacher- study date." I offer.

"_This isn't a joke, Alex! I want to be with him…but it's not possible." _She heaved a sigh. I rolled my eyes. "Look, if you want to be with him, be with him! Stop complaining about how much you wish that you could go out in public with him, because you can't! So either you let him go, or shut up!" I snapped, hanging up the phone.

I don't know why I did that, but I was so sick and tired of her throwing away my ideas just so that she could continue to complain about her problems with Ezra.

* * *

That night, I lay awake in bed listening to the CD that Toby left for me. I wondered whether or not I felt something for me. I mean, sure he was attractive and nice and sweet, but at the same time he could be 'A'…but I didn't want to believe that.

I wanted to believe that he was a good person and only got suspicions thrown on him because of that night. With a sigh, I closed my eyes tried to get some sleep.

* * *

The next morning I was awoken from my precious sleep by yelling. Grumbling to myself, I stumbled out of my room and into my twins. "What the hell is all the racket?" I mumble, glaring slightly.

"Mom and Dad." She sighed. My eyes widened and I was instantly awake. "What are they arguing like that about?" I ask, and she gives me a look.

I hated Meredith. A home wrecker, she was. But my Dad wasn't that innocent either. He had let his emotions take control of him…and now this was happening. "Okay, do you hear that? I told you something was going on!" Mike storms into her room.

"Look, whatever they're arguing about, it has nothing to do with us." Aria said, standing next to me now. "How do you know?" He demanded.

"Because we do!" I yell, eyes going wide. This was too much. It was all too much for me. Aria licked her lips. "Look, go get your stuff, were going to the library. We'll study there." She said.

"Yeah, for how long?" Mike scoffed. "Just go get your stuff." She pleaded, pushing him out of her room.

I trudge downstairs, my hunger overwhelming me. I wonder how much sleep I really got. "She lives in this town. I have seen her, I have talked to her, I befriended this woman!" Mom paced around the room, running her fingers through her long hair.

"Ella, just trust me-"

"TRUST YOU?!" Mom yelled, tears streaming down her face now. I wanted to punch my dad in the face for doing this to her. "I'm not going to let her take away from me what matters most." Dad was talking calmly, sitting down.

"And what is it that matters to you because _clearly_ it is not us." She said, and Dad sighed and crossed over to her. "Let me find another job, at a different collage. You want to pack up and move again? Because I'll do that."

I bit my lip. I didn't want to move again, especially since this 'A' person was terrorizing us. "Is that was Iceland was all about?" Mom demanded. "Yes. In a way, it was. Because I wanted things to be different between us, back to the way it used to be." Dad admitted.

"Why, because of how stupid I looked?" She picked up a photo. "Look at this stupidly _happy_ woman standing next to her _loving_ husband!" She said sarcastically. "What am I supposed to do with all these family photos?" She threw it to the ground, and I flinched as the glass broke.

"Okay, stop it! What I did with her was a mistake!"

"What I know, is that you used our daughters to hide this from us. How could you do this to them? I don't even know who you are!"

"I didn't know what else to do. I was scared, I panicked, and I was scared I would lose you." Dad said, his tone softer this time.

Nice choice of words. "You just might." I hear my mom say coldly.

Tears prickle my eyes as I realized what she just said.

_This family was now truly broken._

* * *

Later that day, Aria dragged me to Ezra's place because she left her phone. "Please tell me I left my phone here." She smiled as soon as he opened the door. "You did. You know, I was on my way to work, and it just kept buzzing. I thought I might be a family emergency, your parents or something…just look at it." He hands her the phone. I huddle in with her too, but had to reign in my laughter once I saw the text.

'_Lucky you, Aria. Most students get to do their homework. You get to do the teacher…-A'_

I may not be a fan of this 'A' person, but this was fucking hilarious. "Who's 'A'?" He demanded.

"I don't know." She admitted.

"How many other of your friends did you tell?" He pressed. "She didn't." I defended my sister. "Oh really? Because I'm thinking that if 'A' knows, 'B' and 'C' do too." He snapped.

I giggled, and they both turned to glare at me. Right. Not a laughing time, Alex. "The person who sent this is not my friend." Aria said. "You told me you were mature enough to handle this, Aria. Do you know what would happen if the school, or even the-"

"She didn't tell anyone!" I said. "I swear."

Ezra pauses for a moment. "Just go. Go, now." He says. We obey him, and he smlams the door after us.

What the fuck was his problem?

* * *

I walked into the Grill, smiling when I saw Toby. "Hey. I was hoping you would be here."

He turned in his chair and grinned at me. "Why?"

"I really like tracks 5, 7, and 9. 9 was the best." I comment, and he nodded. "I know."

"You seem to know a lot." I note. "I have experience."

"In what? Being a anti-social creep?" I smirk at him. He rolls his eyes. "Anyway, I got you a present." I say. "What is it?" Toby smiles at me. The sight instantly sends a shiver down my spine.

I reach in my bag and pull out the CD I made for him. "What's this?"

"Something I made. There are a few girly songs on there, so you have to keep an open mind."

I smiled brightly at him and began to explain the songs.

* * *

As he walked me to my front porch, I smiled at him. "Umm...Thank's, for the CD." He said. "Your welcome." I answered, digging around for my key. Where the bloody hell was that thing, anyway?

"Looking for this, Alex?" Toby said, and I looked up into his smirking face to see that he had a key. Wait a minute….that was my key!

"Give it back, Cavanaugh," I said, stepping forward. "Or what?" He taunted.

"Or I'll kick your ass, that's what!" I snapped, and jumped up attempting to jump up and grab the damn thing from him. "That's not very polite, Alex." He tisked. I growled and jumped even higher. But he was too tall.

"What do I have to do to get the key?" I crossed my arms over my chest. "I want…a kiss." He said, stepping closer.

A kiss? Me, Alex Montgomery, kissing Toby Cavanaugh? That's…

_Amazing._

But then I remembered how I still don't know if I could trust him 100%.

With the roll of my eyes, I cleared my throat and began banging on the door. "What are you doing?" Toby demanded. "Knocking on the door, because I'm not going to kiss you." I answered coolly.

I banged again.

Just when I thought he was leaving, he grabbed my hand, spinning me around.

"What are you-" I was cut off when his lips pressed against mine. I didn't protest, I didn't pull away. In fact, I deepened the kiss and tangled my fingers through his hair.

Sure, I'd had my fair share of kisses, but this…this was amazing. I wanted more. Unfortunetly, I needed air to survive, and I wasn't quite getting any. So I pulled away, smiling at him.

Toby grinned and whispered: "Goodnight, Alex."

And then he left.

* * *

When I finally got inside the house, I found Mike and Aria upstairs eating popcorn and watching a movie. "Hey, siblings." I plopped in between them. They both groaned in protest when I began eating some.

"Where are Mom and Dad?" I finally asked. They didn't answer for a while. "Do you think they can work this out?" Mike asked.

Aria frowned at us. "I really don't know."

Neither did I.

**So, Toby and Alex kissed finally. Yay, I guess. Anyway, Jason will be making his first apperance soon! And I dont really like the first guy that played Toby, so can we pretend that the second guy started off, please?**

**Anyway, love it? Hate it? REVIEW!**


	17. There's No Place Like Homecoming

**I do not own PLL**

**There's No Place Like Homecoming**

The next morning I couldn't wipe the grin off of my face.

Toby kissed me.

_Toby _kissed me.

Toby _kissed_ me.

Toby kissed _me_.

I skipped into my sister's room, but stopped when I saw her laying there, looking all depressed. "Aria?" I asked softly. Ever since Ezra practically threw us out the other day, she'd been acting like a lazy bum. Quite unattractive, if you ask me.

She grunted. "Come on, you cant stay in here forever," I remind her, trying to pull of the covers. She pulled them back on, and we began playing tug of war until she let go, causing me to fall on my bum.

The nerve of this chick!

I huffed and stormed into my room, quickly dialing Hannah. "Aria needs an intervention." I say as soon as she picks up.

"_We'll be there in 10." _

True to her word, Hannah walked into Aria's room with me, Spencer, and Emily on her heels. Spencer poked her in the stomach. "What are you guys doing?" She grumbled, turning to face us. "An intervention." Spencer replies.

"We brought takeout and magazines." Emily plopped the magazines on the bed. "But you cannot have any of those without getting out of these sweats." Hannah said, and Aria sat up. "Why? What's wrong with these?"

"Nothing," I say sarcastically. "Except they're starting to graft your skin." I say, and she frowns. "They're comfy." She defends herself.

"Yeah, so are long jeans and platform flip-flops." Hannah scoffs. "Right. That's why we're gonna let you choose your homecoming dress when you try some on for us." Emily beamed.

"That's easy. I'm not going."

Everyone stared at her in shock.

"What do you mean you're not going?"

"You suck!"

"Yeah, you can't just not go!"

"What are you doing instead?"

Aria sighed. "I don't know. I guess I'll just read and inhale a gallon of chunky monkey."

Spencer out a comforting arm on her shoulder. "Hey, we get it. But cutting yourself off from the rest of the world isn't going to help you. They still might work it out."

I stared blankly at her for a moment before remembering that she didn't know about her love affair with a certain hot teacher.

"Yeah, but they're still not speaking to each other." I say, and Emily says: "People get angry. They blow up. That doesn't mean it's over."

"Emily, they didn't blow up because her dad missed their anniversary. He slept with one of his students." Hannah says bluntly. I give a hard glare. She didn't have to be so rude about it.

"Sorry." She gives me an apologetic look.

Emily sighs and crosses her arms over her chest. "Maybe things will get better on Friday, and by Monday everything will blow over. Things just take time." She says, and I sigh. Raking my hand through my hair, I thought it over.

On the bright side, at least Dad was being honest for once. He'd finally come clean- something that I'd been waiting for over a year. But on the dark side, Mom was upset, as expected. But I never thought she would be _this_ mad; it was like he'd killed something inside of her.

"Yeah, maybe." Aria muttered, and my whole face broke out into a grin. "Alright, so you're coming!" Spencer grabbed her ankles and dragged her off the bed. "I'll _think_ about it." She sighs and we walk over to her desk.

"Well if you're not coming, can you at least cast an absentee ballet?" Hannah begged, and we gave her disbelieving looks. "What? I need her vote!" She defended.

We all grab an extra bean bag and put the food in the middle. "Hannah, you've got Homecoming Queen locked down." Spencer assured her. "Really? You can rig the election?" I ask.

"Sorry, but I have enough to do already. The head of the committee is sick with the flu, so I'll be stacking ice and refilling punch bowls and trying to look cute for my first official date…" Spencer trailed off.

My eyebrows went up. "With _who_?" I demanded. Spencer Hastings, a date? This was a huge shocker. She always said she never had time for boys. Everyone turned to give me a look. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, didn't I tell you about Alex?" Spencer asked, and I frowned. "In case you haven't realized it yet, _I'm _Alex." I said in a 'duh' tone. What was up with her today. "No, the guy that I met at the country club…" She said, and I thought back.

I vaguely remember her telling me something about that, but I was too happy about my kiss to really pay any attention.

"You're taking him to homecoming? So this _is_ real." Aria asked a small smile on her face. Spencer shrugged, a goofy grin plastered on her face. "Look at her blush!" Hannah squealed. "Stop!" She blushed even more.

"Man, now I have to come!" Aria said, and I giggled. "But seriously guys, he's not gonna know anybody there so please try to make him feel welcome." She gives us all a pleading look.

"No, we were planning on freezing him out." Hannah rolled her blue orbs. I stuck my nose up. He was a name stealer…and I hated thieves! "Alright, moving on. Alex, who are you gonna bring?"

It was my turn to blush. In truth, I was hoping that Toby would ask me. "I think I'm gonna go with Emily." I nudged her shoulder, and she smiled. "Aww, I think you guys would look cute together." Spencer cooed. We all laughed at that, and I noticed Em had a funny look on her face.

"Guys, I think that Em should go with whoever she wants. It's just a dance. You should bring whoever you have a thing with." Hannah said, and they shared a look. Wait, what the hell was I missing?

"I really want to go with someone; I just don't want people thinking it's more than it is." She admitted. I thought about Toby when she said that. Hopefully, it _was_ more that I wanted people to think. "Are you and Ben back together?" I asked, frowning.

Ben was a creep- point blank period. "No."

"Then…who's the mystery dude?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows. "I'm starving!" Hannah said abruptly, picking up the bag with fortune cookies. I noticed her freaked look and smirked. "What's wrong? Bad fortune?"

"Yeah, Confucius says: 'Stop being such a drama queen'." Spencer joked. I laughed, but Hannah still had that look on her face. "Lions and tigers and bitches, oh my! There's no place like homecoming- see you there. 'A'." Hannah read aloud, and I shuddered.

Spencer grabbed the bag and cracked all of the cookies. Sure enough, it all read the same thing.

Maybe I should stay with Aria.

**Was anybody a little pissed off about last night's finale? It was good and all, but we have to wait until JUNE ELEVENTH just to find out what- or who- was in the trunk. Something tells me it was Jason :(**

**Anyway, love it? Hate it? REVIEW! **


	18. There's No Place Like Homecoming Pt2

**I do not own PLL.**

**There's No Place Like Homecoming. **

Later at school that day, I was in my locker getting more books for class. God, how I hated class. Whoever came up with the idea of school should be arrested. Oh wait, they were probably dead. Maybe I really did need to come to school.

Spencer had come to me with the theory that Toby bought two tickets to the dance to go with _Jenna_, and the thought alone made me shudder.

Toby and Jenna? That was just ridiculous. I felt that Spencer was just looking for new ways to blame Toby for being 'A', and that this was some sort of breakthrough. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sighed and shut my locker door. I was giving myself a headache.

As I turned around to get to class, I see Toby walking towards me, a huge smile on his face. "Hi yourself," I responded, a wide, goofy grin plastered on my face. I looked into those pretty eyes of his and my grin grew even wider, thinking about the kiss we'd shared.

"I was about to look for you," He admitted, blushing as he looked down. And darn it if it wasn't the cutest blush I'd ever seen in my life. "Really? How come?" I asked, confused. Okay, so maybe I was hoping that he would ask me to Homecoming (why else did he get the tickets?), but quickly ruled it out.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about something." He said, causing me to raise an eyebrow. "Umm…would you want to hang out, tomorrow night?" Toby asked, gripping his backpack strap nervously.

And now I feel like a bitch. I wanted to hang out with him- I really did. But I didn't know if it would be awkward or not, with the whole kiss thing. Not to mention the fact that I was going to Homecoming with Emily. "I would…but I'm kind of going to Homecoming with Emily tomorrow. She didn't have a date, and neither did I." I quickly explained.

Toby smiled mischievously. "Well that's too bad. I was hoping that you would go with me."

Que fangirl scream. He was asking me to the dance! I began doing my happy dance (in my head, of course). Blushing, I bit my lip and said: "I thought that wasn't your scene." I admitted, looking down.

"I have a scene? I didn't think listening to the Smits alone in my room was a scene," Toby said, and it made me feel horrible.

Stereotype much?

"You _know_ what I mean," I chuckled nervously. "I think what you mean is that you don't want to go with me." Toby said, and I blanched.

"No, no! It's not that. It's just…I thought that you would think Homecoming was lame." I admitted, and he smiles. "It _is_ pretty lame…but you're not."

I nearly melted right there. I considered the pros and cons of going with him.

_He's so hot!_

_But he could be 'A'. _

_He's not 'A'! _

_What if this is all just an elaborate plan to corner and kill you?_

_What if he actually likes me? _

_He's dangerous…_

_But he has pretty eyes…_

I guess the pros won this round. "Okay." I finally caved in.

Toby smiled brightly. "I'll pick you up at nine?" He asked me. I nodded. "Yeah…but it starts at eight." I admitted. Toby just laughed.

"Lame." He said, and walked off, leaving me there to grin like an idiot after him.


	19. There's No Place Like Homecoming Pt3

**I DO NOT OWN PLL! Or Ellie Goulding's song, Starry Eyed.  
**

**There's No Place Like Homecoming**

Happy doesn't even begin to describe it. I was…euphoric. Yeah, that's the word. Toby was picking me up tonight for Homecoming- which was great, I guess. But I was going to have a hard time getting it past Aria- and Emily, as she was my original date.

I was now in one of Rosewood's many dress shops, doing very last minute shopping. Why the hell was everybody in here, anyway? Shouldn't they already have a dress or whatever?

Anyway, I really couldn't wait to meet Alex (Spencer's date, not me. DUH!) The way Spencer bragged about him, he might have been a Greek God. My phone rings, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Spencer?" I said, looking through the rack I was currently in. I stopped when I saw a beautiful red dress, just hanging there in all it's glory. Beaming, I took it off the rack and headed towards the dressing rooms.

"_Hey, Alex. I need a huge favor, and if you were my friend you would do it for me!" _She rushed out, and I frowned. This wouldn't be good.

"What is it?"

"_You're a singer, right?"_

"Somewhat…Spencer, what is it?" I peeled off my shirt to reveal the black lacy bra I put on this morning. "I'm kinda busy right now."

"_We're short on live music…and I kind of need you to…I don't know…sing?" _It sounded like a question. I froze.

As crazy as it sounded, I had terrible stage fright. Okay, that was a lie. I had terrible stage fright in front of boys that I liked. Meaning Toby. Meaning…no.

"No thanks, Spencer. But I'm sure that if you could get Aria to stop moping about Ezra, she would be happy to help you."

"_Please? I'm already behind, and if you don't do it I'll totally be known as the Girl-Who-Didn't-Make-This-an-Awesome-Homecoming-Da nce!" _Spencer pleaded, and I felt myself giving in.

I didn't want her to be known as that. So I reluctantly agreed, and she eagerly hung up the phone. Rolling my eyes, I put on the dress and turned to the mirror.

It was knee-length and corset like, and it was form-fitting in all the right places. It pushed up my boobs and made them more mouth-watering, if I say so myself. I would look perfect.

The rest was up to Spencer.

* * *

I smiled at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were enhanced with a silvery-grey smokey eye, and my eyelash curler did it's job perfectly. In my dress, my tan skin glowed. My hair was done in an half-up half-down kind of way, and Aria was busy doing the strings on my corset.

"Pull any harder, will you?" I asked through clenched teeth as she pulled on it, tight. I honestly don't know how women before us put up with this everyday. I would go insane. "Sorry. But you're the one who got this dress."

"It's pretty!"

"It's a scam. If you really knew how difficult these things were, you wouldn't have bought it, would you? Nope."

"Bitch."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Aria was just finishing her eyeliner when she finally spoke again. "So, Emily told me that you bailed on her. Wanna explain?"

I froze in the process of swiping on lip-gloss. I shrugged and said: "I found someone else to go with." I walked over and slipped on my heels. "It was last minute, really. And besides, now you have someone to go with," I teased her.

Aria snorted. "Yeah, but I kind of wish I was going with-"

"Aria Montgomery, if you say it I will slap you," I warned her. What was so great about Ezra anyway? Sure he had curly hair, and pretty eyes, and a nice body, but that was it, really. He seemed like a selfish brat when things didn't go the way he wanted them to. Jerk.

"You don't get it Alex. Going o some high-school dance isn't going to make me feel any better. I have to see him _everyday_." She said sadly. I shrugged and started to look for my heels. Where the hell did I put them anyway?

"So, who are you going with?" My twin asked me. I froze and considered lying, but decided to vague instead. "Someone who asked me, last minute thing." I answered. Aria looked into my eyes, and watched my hands, as if they were going to jump up and scratch my brows.

Thank God they didn't. "Really? Who is it?"

"You don't like him."

"How do you know?"

"Because...you once ranted about how much of a weirdo he was." It was true. The summer Ali disappeared, she saw Toby and went ballistic. It was crazy.

Aria pondered that for a moment. "Whatever, just tell me who he is."

"No!"

"Why _not_?"

"He has head lice!" I blurted out without thinking. It was a good excuse, in my book, because: a). Head lice was disgusting and b). I was so repulsed I didn't even think about moving my hands.

Aria looked like she was about to throw up. "Why are you going to Homecoming with a guy that has _head lice_?! Did you touch him? Did he touch you? Do you have it, Alex? Because I swear to God, if I start itching i'm going to _kill_-"

"NO! I don't have it...and I never will, okay? I just agreed because I felt bad for him. Now can we please drop it?" I pleaded, and promptly began looking for my heels again.

"Aria, do I have to wear these things? They looked dangerous..."

"Oh, stop being a baby, Alex!"

In truth, I was thinking about letting Toby and the girls meet tonight. I would introduce him as my boyfriend, if that's even what we are. He doesn't seem like the type to label anything, but that just made him all the more confusing. I made a mental check list of things to ask Toby tonight.

The doorbell rang, jarring me out of my thoughts. "Is that him?" Aria asked with a look of disgust on her face. Shrugging, I began to look for my heels faster. While on the outside I appeared to be cool and collected, on the inside I felt like I had to puke. I was nervous, but not because I was going to the dance with some guy. I was going with _Toby_, who was much more different and complex than any other guy I'd ever met.

"ALEX! GET YOU'RE FAT ASS DOWN HERE, _NOW_!" Mike screamed upstairs. Rolling ym eyes, I finally spot the heels and slip them on. Then I turned to Aria and said: "Rate me?"

Aria pretended to think about it for a moment. "Perfect 10."

"Do you want to meet him?"

"Do you want you're arms?"

"Touche."

"Get out, Alex."

When I walked downstairs, Mike saw me a glared. "Go change," He demanded. I scoffed and turned to Toby (who looked hot in his suit, BTW). "You like?" I twirled around for him. He gulped and nodded.

"If you try anything, I will kick your ass." Mike warned.

Toby smirked slightly and held his arm out to me. "Are you ready?"

"I was born ready."

"You're such a loser."

"Says the guy who's going to Homecoming?"

"Says the girl who agreed to go with the guy to Homecoming?"

"Touche."

* * *

When we got there, I was in awe. Spencer did a great job, I made a mental note to tell her that later. As we were walking in the school,Toby grabbed my arm. "I have two tickets to the movies. We could blow off the dance and go. We'll only miss the credits." He assured me.

I rolled my eyes and said: "Come on. You don't have anything to be nervous about. All you have to do is dance with me." I reminded him. Toby chuckled nervously. "I don't dance."

"Can't or won't?

"Both."

I thought this over for a bit. "Okay, you stand there and do this," I did a stupid leg move. "And I'll just dance around you."

He tried to copy my movements, but failed miserably. I laughed at his attempts, and said: "Okay, we'll get punch, too."

"Will we also do the jitterbug?"

"Don't be a smart-ass."

Toby chuckled. "That's not the main issue."

I immediately knew he was talking about my friends. I heaved a sigh. "Toby, there is nothing to be worried about."

"They think I'm a freak."

"Doesn't everyone?"

"I'm being serious, Alex."

''So am I. Once they get to know you, they'll love you. Now stop worrying."

And then I kissed him. It was a short kiss, but it was sweet and soft. "Now come on. Let's walk in really dramatically!

When we walked in, Spencer, Hannah, and my twin were staring at us in shock, disbelief, and worry.

"Is that dramatic enough for you?" Toby whispered when he saw what I was staring at.

Asshole. "Come on," I tugged his sleeve.

I walked over there with a smile on my face. "Hey guys. You all look good."

"Why are you here with him?"

"He could hurt you!"

"Toby has head lice?" This question was thrown at me by no other than the lovely Hannah Marin.

"He is not going to hurt me. I wanted to be here with him. And no, Hannah, he does not have head lice." I responded to them all. Aria glared at Toby.

"Leave her alone." She hissed. "I'm not going to hurt her!" He protested. I nodded in agreement. "Right, but Jenna might." Spencer snapped.

I frowned. "What about Jenna?" I asked.

"He's working with her. Jenna had the lipstick, the one we found on the mirror. Toby is working with her." Hannah replied, and I frowned and whipped around to glare at him. ''What is she talking about?"

"I want to know the same thing!"

We all just stood there, glaring at each other, until Emily walked up. "Hey guys. What's going on?" She asked, oblivious to the oblivious tension in the air.

She really knew how to make an entrance.

* * *

For a while, Toby and I just danced and had a good time,forgetting about everyone else, until Spencer walked up. "It's time for you to go up."

I groaned and gave her my best puppy dog look. "Do I have to?"

"Yes Alex, you promised remember? Now go!" She pushed me towards the stage. With a sigh, I walk up. Cheers erupted in the crowd, and I smiled.

"Is everybody having a good time?"

More cheer's. I honestly thought somebody had spiked the punch bowl. I told the band what to play, took a deep breath, and began singing.

_'Hit, hit, hit, hit me with lightning_

_Handle bars, then I let go, let go for anyone_

_Take me in, and throw out my heart, get a new one_

_Next thin, we're touching, you look at me it's like you hit me with lightning_

_Ah-ah_

_Oh, everybody's starry eyed  
_

_And everybody glows, oh_

_Everybody's starry eyed_

_And my body goes, woah_

_Aa-ah_

_Woah, ah-ah_

_So we burst into colors, colors and carousels_

_Fall head first, like paper planes and playground games_

_Next thing, we're touching  
_

_You look at me it's like you hit me with lightning, ah-ah _

_Oh, everybody's starry eyed  
_

_And everybody glows, oh_

_Everybody's starry eyed_

_And my body goes, woah_

_Aa-ah_

_Woah, ah-ah_

_Next thing, we're touching  
_

_Next thing, we're touching_

_Next thing, we're touching_

_Next thing, we're touching_

_Hit me with lightning, ah-ah  
_

_Oh, everybody's starry eyed  
_

_And everybody glows, oh_

_Everybody's starry eyed_

_And my body goes, woah_

_Aa-ah_

_Woah, ah-ah_

When I was done, I was greeted by massive applause, much to my enjoyment. I hopped off stage and walked over to the punch bowl.

"Wow Alex, that was amazing." Ezra said, smiling at me. I grinned. "Why thank you, kind sir."

He looked away, into the sea of teenage bodies. I followed his gaze and saw Aria, dancing and laughing with Sean. Wait- wasn't he Hannah's date? What the hell did I miss?

"Er... look Ezra. Aria still cares about you...and she'd like to think that you still care about her too." I blurted out. He turned and looked at me in surprise. "What?"

God, this was going to be awkward. But if he was going to stare at her like an creep, then I was going to have to lay down the law. "Look, I know that you two had a falling out or whatever, but you can't keep staring at her like that. If you want her, go get her."

"It's not that simple, Alex."

"Yes, it is. Sure, they'll be some complications, but you can overcome them, right? You two like each other a lot, and I might even go as far as love. You belong together, and the faster you realize that, the better you both will be.'I walked off without hearing his reply.

* * *

Aria grabs me before I could actually get far, though. "What did you say to Ezra?" She demanded. I shrugged. "I just told him to 'follow his heart'. Something along those lines."

She rolled her eyes. "Why, Alex?"

"Because he kept staring at you like a creepo."

"That's not what I meant. Why are you here with Toby?"

And it all goes back to this. I was getting sick of it, really. "I want to be here with him."

"He could hurt you!"

"He's not, Aria!"

"You don't know that! He's working with Jenna, and he can't be trusted." My twin protested. I just stared at her in a mixture of shock and disbelief. "You're wrong. The sooner you realize that, the sooner we all can be happy."

Aria sighs. "Look, when you realize that you're wrong, we'll welcome you with open arms." With that, she walked away. I rolled my eyes. Who the hell did she think she was? She didn't trust Toby, but in a way I guess I understood. The minute he came back into town, this 'A' person decided to start messing with us.

It made sense, but I didn't believe it. It was all a coincidence. Toby wasn't capable of doing all of this; I doubted he would hurt a fly. "Are you okay?"

I whirled around to see Toby there, a look of concern on his face. Toby reached out and brushed away tears that I didn't know where there.

"Come on."

* * *

He led me to the cafeteria. "Are you okay?"

I shook my head. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I nodded and was about to blurt everything out to him when a couple laughed and began making out right outside the window. PDA much?

"Lets go to the Chem room. It's quieter in there." Toby held out his hand, which I gratefully took.

When we got into the room, I noticed how dark and eerie it seemed. "It look so different at night." I observed, trailing my fingers on the lab tables. "So...you want to talk about what happened?" He asked slowly.

I turned around to face him. "I just got upset." I explained, playing with one of my curls. "Did it have to do with Aria?"

Gazing at him, I said: "Yes."

"Alex, did you come with the wrong person to Homecoming?"

"No! She was just being...difficult." I responded, and he smiles lightly. I stared at him, trying to figure him out. "Why do you like me?" I ask suddenly. I couldn't help asking. My friends and I possibly ruined his life, and we certainly ruined Jenna's.

"What?" Toby asked. "Why do you like me?" I repeated. "Knowing what my friends and I did to you."

Toby chuckled and closed the door behind him. I frowned and took a step back. He looked creepy...and the fact that he just closed the door wasn't helping anything. "Well, I guess it's because we've all got our secrets, Alex."

Holy hell. This was really starting to get scary...

My phone rings, and I dig in my bag to go answer it. It was Spencer. "Could you not answer that?" Toby pleaded, and I gave him a weird look. "Why?"

"Because...I'm trying to tell you about what really happened last summer. I want you to hear it from me." He said, getting closer with each step he took. "Toby, you're scaring me. Please stop."

"I haven't said anything yet."

I went to move around him, closer to the door. He was freaking me out; something that I never imagined Toby doing again. "Please, just stop."

He grabbed my arm, making me freeze in place. "What, you're allowed to be honest but I'm not?"

Was he going to confess to killing Allison? Or having something to do with her murder? My phone chirped, and I looked down.

_You're with Ali's killer! We have proof. Get out of there- Aria_

I gasped and looked up at Toby with fear in my eyes. Was he really? Was he capable of doing it? I frowned, but refused to believe it. Only when I saw it. "Toby...I have to go."

"No, Alex wait! Alex!" But I was already out of the door. "ALEX!"

I was running, trying to get away from him. Right now I couldn't think about how he might not be Ali's killer. I was thinking about if he could become _my_ killer. I ran into a room with mirrors everywhere, and Toby was right behind me. I gasped and ran faster.

But I tripped in my heels and fell.

_I told Aria these things were a death hazard..._

It was the last thing I thought before darkness consumed me...

**Finally! JASON IS COMING SOON! So pumped...I had a reviewer ask me where I was going with this. Truthfully, I have a few ideas, but I need the perfect episode to insert them in, ya' know? Also, I need help with trying to find the person who is portraying Alex. Tell me in your reviews. **

**Love it? Hate it? Either way, REVIEW!**


	20. The Homecoming Hangover

**I do not own PLL **

**The Homecoming Hangover**

_Aria_

I was panicking. Hannah, Emily, Spencer, and I were looking for Alex, who was with Ali's killer. I was worried sick. Why did she have to be such an idiot?

"Alex? Alex! ALEX!" We yell for my twin, but it was no use. It was like talking to air. We rounded the corner and Spencer cut on the light. They flickered, effectively creeping me out even more.

I should've stayed home and eaten the Chunky Monkey. "How about we split up?" Spencer suggested. "How about we _not_?!" Hannah panicked.

"Han," I started. "You can come with me and Emily."

"Why do I have to be alone?" Spencer whirled around, and I huffed. We did not have time for this. My sister was missing! "Fine, we'll split up together." I grabbed my phone and began calling her again.

"What are you doing?" Emily breathed.

"I'm calling her until she picks up!" I said, practically holding my breath as I called her again. I hoped she was okay. I hoped she was safe. I hoped she was _alive_.

My eye's furrowed in confusion as I heard a phone ringing from a distance. We share a look before walking forward. We stop in front of Alex's phone, right outside the Chemistry lab.

"Alex?" Spencer called softly as we walked in. I gasped at what I saw. There was shattered glass everywhere, a seat tipped over, and…

_Blood on the floor._

"Is that blood?" Hannah freaked out, and I shook my head. This couldn't be happening. Alex wasn't- I mean she was okay. This was all just some stupid prank that she decided to pull on us.

"Don't go there," I breathed out. Emily squeezed my hand trying to soothe me, but it did nothing to help my nerves. "Why not?" Spencer demanded. "She came in here with Toby." She stated. I swallowed and closed my eyes.

Because my sister could be dead.

_Alex_

When I woke up, I was in a bed. A highly uncomfortable bed. I groaned and tried to sit up, but a pounding in my head refused to let me move anywhere. "Alex?" A startled voice said. I looked in the corner to see Aria.

"Aria!" I cried in relief. My twin rushed over and pulled me into a hug. "Oh my God, you had me so worried. Do you know how nervous I've been in these past few hours? Huh? Do you?" She pressed, and I pinched the bridge of my nose with the hand that wasn't in a cast.

Wait, what?

"What happened?" I asked, now fully looking around. I was in an hospital, I knew that much. "Why am I here?"

Mom, Dad, and Mike rushed in. Mom got to me first, pulling me into a hug so tight that I could barley breath. "Mom, relax. I'm okay." I said, pulling back only to be engulfed into two more breathtaking embraces.

"Do you know how scared I was? How could you do this to us?" Dad yelled, running his hands through his hair. I frowned. Why the hell was he so pissy? "What exactly did I do?" I asked.

Aria gave me a '_We'll talk later'_ look and I nodded.

The doctor came in and did his entire doctor stuff, but I really wasn't paying attention. I was more worried about how I ended up in the hospital. Or why they were all panicked and worried about me.

And where the hell was Toby?

* * *

Later on that morning, the police were walking around outside our house, investigating and all that jazz, while Aria, Spencer, Emily and I were up in my room talking. They were telling me about Toby and Jenna.

"Toby and Jenna were in a relationship," Aria explained. "Yeah, _way_ beyond step-siblings." Spencer piped up.

I frowned but didn't say anything. "They were...involved." Emily continued.

"Romantically?" I asked.

Spencer scoffed. "I wouldn't call it romantic, but I doubt we have much of a choice."

"That's what Allison saw when she threw the stink bomb." My twin added. I shuddered; grateful I didn't throw the thing myself. "That's why he wanted her dead," Emily concluded.

I gave them a look. While I didn't doubt Toby and Jenna being involved, I didn't believe that he wanted her dead over something as simple as that. It was...disgusting if he did that.

"And not just her...us. _You_." Aria stated, and I looked away and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. "You don't believe us?" Spencer questioned in disbelief.

I shook my head. "No, I do. It's just...I just don't get it. If Toby killed Allison, and wanted to do the same to me, then why am I sitting in my bed and not in a body bag?" I question them, raising an eyebrow.

Aria bit her lip and Emily ran her fingers through her hair. "So what exactly did you tell the police?" She asked.

"I told the police that I went out for air and tripped." I admitted honestly.

"Why didn't you just tell them that Toby attacked you?" Aria demanded, and I shrugged. "I didn't want to say anything until I talked to you guys," I defended.

"Well the truth is in the file." Spencer said. "You can tell them everything now."

"She can't tell them _everything_," Emily reminded them. Then she turned to me. "But you have to leave out the file."

Spencer nodded. "Yes. Leave out the file."

I groaned and fell back on my bed. Who dropped me off at the hospital? Where was Toby? Why hadn't he killed me when he had the chance? Did he really attack me as they said, or where they just taking advantage of my temporary memory loss? There was so many thoughts swirling in my head, I barely heard Hannah walk in.

"Who knew there were so many cops in Rosewood?" She questioned. "I went to put this back," She held up the mysterious file. "And they were outside the doctor's office, talking to Toby's shrink. They know this was stolen!"

I tilted my head as I stared at the folder in my friend's hand. "Can I see that?" I asked suddenly, and she walked over and handed it to me.

"If 'A' was saw me going in and out that building last night I am so toast," Hannah complained, and right after she said it my mom walked in.

"Are you okay? Did you remember anything?" She asked me, and I shook my head. "No." I murmured, still looking through the file. My mother smiled before turning to my sister.

"Ask your father if he plans on taking the car this week." She said, saying 'father' in disgust. Then she turned on her heel and walked out. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Great, my parents are still not talking." Aria shook her head. "I'll go talk to her." My twin walked out. Emily's phone beeped and she smiled. "I'd better go." She said quickly, and I smiled. Did somebody have plans with Maya?

Spencer sighed and went to leave as well. "I'd better go too."

"What? I just got here! What am I supposed to do with this?" Hannah gestured to the file that was currently on my bed.

"Just shove it in your locker or something. We'll figure something out." With that, my friends were gone, leaving me with Hannah. The blond girl sighed and sat on my bed.

"Is that the car you won outside?" She asked, and I frowned as I stared out the window. I'd won a car? Then it clicked. It was that stupid raffle thing Emily made me enter. Mutely, I nodded and looked at the file again."

"How do you go to Homecoming, crack your head open, and then win a Corolla in a raffle?" She mused, and I shrugged. I wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. I just wanted to eat cookie dough Ben & Jerry's, and watch the Powerpuff Girls. I'm sure Buttercup kicking MoJo JoJo's ass would make me feel better.

"Anyway, I didn't come to talk to you about your car. I came here to talk to you about Toby."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Spare me the lecture, okay? I know it was wrong- not listening to you and going to the dance with Toby, and kissing him. I shouldn't have been so stupid." I looked down.

Hannah shook her head and grabbed my hand. "I'm not. You don't have to be so ashamed...sometimes, when you feel something for a person, you don't see all the bad things about them. You only see the good things."

Running my fingers through my hair, I gave her a look. "You don't have to lie to make me feel better. Really, it's okay."

My blond friend smiled. "I'm not lying. Trust me; take it from someone who knows." Then her smiled turned into a smirk. "So tell me: was he a good kisser?" I laughed and shook my head at her.

At least something good came out of this week.

**Love it? Hate it? Seriously, I don't care if it's a bad review or not. If anything, it'll only make me write better. REVIEW!**


	21. The Homecoming Hangover Pt2

_A/N: It's official…I'm a bad person. But…I'm here now, right? And thanks for the lovely reviews, from ROSE & ShineYourOwnWay. They were greatly appreciated! _

**I don't own PLL. **

**The Homecoming Hangover**

I hummed to myself as I walked into Aria's room. Hannah had long gone, and I felt bored now. I was still irritated that I couldn't remember anything about last night, but I was trying not to let it get to me. Let _Toby_ get to me.

Mom was in there, handing Aria a box with a red bow wrapped around it. "Hey, who's that for?" I asked curiously. I hope it wasn't from Ezra…because then Aria wouldn't shut the hell up about it.

I didn't know how I felt about those two. I was OK with it; it was just irritating how everything was about him. And the fact that he didn't seem to know what he wanted.

"Aria," Mom answered back. "Are you OK? Do you need anything? You should be resting." She pushed.

"Mom, I'm fine. I just need to relax- and the only thing that'll make me do that is messing with Aria…" I said, and she snickered while my twin glared at me.

"Good to see you back to normal." She muttered. I just grinned cheekily at her, no doubt showing the one dimple I had in my left cheek.

Mike stopped just outside the doorway, gazing at me wearily. "Are you alright? You're not going to throw up or anything, are you?"

"I got hit in the head, not the stomach virus, you idiot!" I rolled my eyes at my brother's stupidity. He just shrugged. "You never know. Anyway, Dad's dropping me off for the game. Should I save you a seat?" Mike asked nervously.

Aria and I exchanged glances. I hoped my mother would say yes, for the sake of Mike's happiness.

Mom gave out a sigh. "Uh…honey, I think I'm gonna have to miss this one.'' She said quietly.

His face fell. "Whatever…" He sighed, walking away slowly. I put my face in my hands, shaking my head. I felt so bad for the poor kid. Dammit, Dad!

"You don't have to sit with Dad," Aria spoke up, and I glanced at my mother hopefully.

"Yes, but that would look worse than not going at all, wouldn't it?" She responded before turning around and walking out of my twin's room. I turned to my sister, eager to see who the flowers were from.

She took the card off, a huge smile on her face. Then she frowned. "Who is it?" I asked. She sighed in disappointment. "Sean.''

I burst out laughing.


End file.
